dMHHHMHMHmtmi'S^') 


•^         ^         ^        (O)         ^        ^        ^         '§)         ^^    .   "^  ... 


>      1      i      I      i      1      I      I      1      I      i      I      1       '       i      i      . 


:fc^-5a5 


v 


>^ 


A 


~v-X 


-4^- 

^t^: 


l--^; 

Z-^-- 


.^S^ 


.-vv 


^ 


•*i^- 


'^z^^ 


>Crb'^'ylA^ 


yO 


STORIES 


ANIMALS 


CAPT.  MAYNE  REID,  AND  0THEE3. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 
WITH   A  MEMOIE   BY  K.   H.   STODDARD. 


NEW  YORK: 
THOMAS  R.  KNOX  &  CO., 

Successors  to  James  Miller, 

813  Broadway. 

1885. 


TROWS 

PfttNTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  CQMPAITl^ 

NEW  YORIC 


HEMOIE  OF  MAYNE  KEID. 


No  one  who  has  written  books  for  the  young  during  the 
present  century  ever  had  so  large  a  circle  of  readers  aa 
Captain  Mayne  Reid,  or  ever  was  so  well  fitted  by  circum- 
stances to  write  the  books  by  which  he  is  chiefly  known. 
His  life,  which  was  an  adventurous  one,  was  ripened  with 
the  experience  of  two  Continents,  and  his  temperament, 
which  was  an  ardent  one,  reflected  the  traits  of  two  races. 
Irish  by  birth,  he  was  American  in  his  sympathies  with 
the  people  of  the  New  World,  whose  acquaintance  he 
made  at  an  early  period,  among  whom  he  lived  for  years, 
and  whose  battles  he  helped  to  win.  He  was  probably 
more  familiar  with  the  Southern  and  Western  portion  of 
the  United  States  forty  years  ago  than  any  native-born 
American  of  that  time.  A  curious  interest  attaches  to  the 
life  of  Captain  Reid,  but  it  is  not  of  the  kind  that  casual 
biographers  dwell  upon.  If  he  had  written  it  himself  it 
would  have  charmed  thousands  of  readers,  who  -can  now 
merely  imagine  what  it  might  have  been  from  the  glimpses 
of  it  which  they  obtain  in  his  writings.  It  was  not  passed 
in  the  fierce  light  of  publicity,  but  in  that  simple,  silent 
obscurity  which  is  the  lot  of  most  men,  and  is  their  hap- 
piness, if  they  only  knew  it. 

Briefly  related,  the  life  of  Captain  Reid  was  as  follows : 
He  was  born  in  1818,  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  the  son  of 
a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  was  a  type  of  the  class 
which  Goldsmith  has  described  so  freshly  in  the  "  Deserted 
Village,"  and  was  highly  thought  of  for  his  labors  among 
the  poor  of  his  neighborhood.  An  earnest,  reverent  man, 
to  whom  his  calling  was  indeed  a  sacred  one,  he  designed 
his  son  Mayne  for  the  ministry,  in  the  hope,  no  doubt, 
that  he  would  be  his  successor.  But  nature  had  some- 
thing to  say  about  that,  as  well  as  his  good  father.  He 
began  to  study  for  the  ministry,  but  it  was  not  long  befor* 

1 


M6iJ,77 


he  was  drawn  in  another  direction.  Always  a  great  reader, 
his  favorite  books  were  descriptions  of  travel  in  foreign 
lands,  particularly  those  which  dealt  with  the  scenery, 
the  people,  and  the  resources  of  America.  The  spell  which 
these  exercised  over  his  imagination,  joined  to  a  love  of 
adventure  which  was  inherent  in  his  temperament,  and 
inherited,  perhaps  with  his  race,  determined  his  career. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  he  closed  his  theological  tomes,  and 
girding  up  his  loins  with  a  stout  heart  he  sailed  from  the 
shores  of  the  Old  World  for  the  New.  Following  the 
spirit  in  his  feet  he  landed  at  New  Orleans,  which  was 
probably  a  more  promising  field  for  a  young  man  of  his 
talents  than  any  Northern  city,  and  was  speedily  engaged 
in  business.  The  nature  of  this  business  is  not  stated, 
further  than  it  was  that  of  a  trader ;  but  whatever  it  was 
it  obliged  this  young  Irishman  to  make  long  journeys  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  which  was  almost  a  terra  in- 
cognita. Sparsely  settled,  where  settled  at  all,  it  was  still 
clothed  in  primeval  verdure — here  in  the  endless  reach  of 
savannas,  there  in  the  depth  of  pathless  woods,  and  far 
away  to  the  North  and  the  West  in  those  monotonous 
ocean-like  levels  of  land  for  which  the  speech  of  England 
has  no  name — the  Prairies.  Its  population  was  nomadic, 
not  to  say  barbaric,  consisting  of  tribes  of  Indians  whoee 
hunting  grounds  from  time  immemorial  the  region  was ; 
hunters  and  trappers,  who  had  turned  their  backs  upon 
civilization  for  the  free,  wild  life  of  nature  ;  men  of 
doubtful  or  dangerous  antecedents,  who  had  found  it  con- 
venient to  leave  their  country  for  their  country's  good  ; 
and  scattered  about  hardy  pioneer  communities  from  East- 
ern States,  advancing  waves  of  the  great  sea  of  emigration 
which  is  still  drawing  the  course  of  empire  westward. 
Travelling  in  a  country  like  this,  and  among  people  like 
these,  Mayne  Reid  passed  five  years  of  his  early  manhood. 
He  was  at  home  wherever  he  went,  and  never  more  so 
than  when  among  the  Indians  of  the  Red  River  territory, 
with  whom  he  spent  several  months,  learning  their  lan- 
guage, studying  their  customs,  and  enjoying  the  wild  and 
beautiful  scenery  of  their  camping  grounds.  Indian  for 
the  time,  he  lived  in  their  lodges,  rode  with  them,  hunted 
with  them,  and  night  after  night  sat  by  their  blazing 
camp-fires  listening  to  the  warlike  stories  of  the  braves 
and  the  quaint  legends  of  the  medicine  men.  There  waa 
that  in  the  blood  of  Mayne  Reid  which  fitted  him  to  lead 
this  life  at  this  time,  and  whether  he  knew  it  or  not  it 
2 


educated  his  genius  as  no  other  life  could  have  done.  It 
familiarized  him  with  a  large  extent  of  country  in  the 
South  and  West ;  it  introduced  him  to  men  and  manneri 
which  existed  nowhere  else ;  and  it  revealed  to  him  the 
secrets  of  Indian  life  and  character. 

There  was  another  side,  however,  to  Mayne  Reid  than 
that  we  have  touched  upon,  and  this,  at  the  end  of  five 
years,  drew  him  back  to  the  average  life  of  his  kind.  We 
find  him  next  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  began  to  con- 
tribute stories  and  sketches  of  travel  to  the  newspapers 
and  magazines,  Philadelphia  was  then  the  most  literate 
city  in  the  United  States,  the  one  in  which  a  clever  writer 
was  at  once  encouraged  and  rewarded,  Frank  and  warm- 
hearted, he  made  many  friends  there  among  journalists 
and  authors.  One  of  these  friends  was  Edgar  Allan  Poe, 
whom  he  often  visited  at  his  home  in  Spring  Garden,  and 
concerning  whom  years  after,  when  he  was  dead,  he  wrote 
with  loving  tenderness. 

The  next  episode  in  the  career  of  Mayne  Reid  was  not 
what  one  would  expect  from  a  man  of  letters,  though  it 
was  just  what  might  have  been  expected  from  a  man  of 
his  temperament  and  antecedents.  It  grew  out  of  the 
time,  which  was  warlike,  and  it  drove  him  into  the  army 
with  which  the  United  States  speedily  crushed  the  forces 
of  the  sister  Republic — Mexico,  He  obtained  a  commis- 
sion, and  served  throughout  the  war  with  great  bravery 
and  distinction.  This  stormy  episode  ended  with  a  severe 
wound,  which  he  received  in  storming  the  heights  of  Cha- 
pultepec — a  terrible  battle  which  practically  ended  the 
war. 

A  second  episode  of  a  similar  character,  but  with  a  more 
fortunate  conclusion,  occurred  about  four  years  later.  It 
grew  out  of  another  war,  which,  happily  for  us,  was  not  on 
our  borders,  but  in  the  heart  of  Europe,  where  the  Hun- 
garian race  had  risen  in  insurrection  against  the  hated  power 
of  Austria.  Their  desperate  valor  in  the  face  of  tremen- 
dous odds  excited  the  sympathy  of  the  American  people, 
and  fired  the  heart  of  Captain  Mayne  Reid,  who  buckled 
on  his  sword  once  more,  and  sailed  from  New  York  with 
a  body  of  volunteers  to  aid  the  Hungarians  in  their  struggles 
for  independence.  They  were  too  late,  for  hardly  had 
they  reached  Paris  before  they  learned  that  all  was  over : 
Gorgey  had  surrendered  at  Arad,  and  Hungary  was 
crushed.  They  were  at  once  dismissed,  and  Captain  Reid 
betook  himself  to  London. 

3 


The  life  of  the  Mayne  Jfteld  in  whom  we  are  most  in* 
terested — Mayne  Reid,  the  author — began  at  this  time, 
when  he  was  in  his  thirty -first  year,  and  ended  only  on 
the  day  of  his  death,  October  21,  1883.  It  covered  one- 
third  of  a  century,  and  was,  when  compared  with  that 
which  had  preceded  it,  uneventful,  if  not  devoid  of  in- 
cident. There  is  not  much  that  needs  be  told— not  much, 
indeed,  that  can  be  told — in  the  life  of  a  man  of  letters 
like  Captain  Mayne  Eeid,  It  is  written  in  his  books. 
Mayne  Reid  was  one  of  the  best  known  authors  of  his 
time — differing  in  this  from  many  authors  who  are  popu- 
lar without  being  known — and  in  the  walk  of  fiction  which 
lie  discovered  for  himself  he  is  an  acknowledged  mas- 
ter. His  reputation  did  not  depend  upon  the  admiration 
of  the  millions  of  young  people  who  read  his  books,  but 
upon  the  judgment  of  mature  critics,  to  whom  his  delinea- 
tions of  adventurous  life  were  literature  of  no  common 
order.  His  reputation  as  a  story-teller  was  widely  recog- 
nized on  the  Continent,  where  he  was  accepted  as  an 
authority  in  regard  to  the  customs  of  the  pioneers  and  the 
guerilla  warfare  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  was  warmly 
praised  for  his  freshness,  his  novelty,  and  his  hardy  origi- 
nality. The  people  of  France  and  Germany  delighted  in 
this  soldier- writer.  "  There  was  not  a  word  in  his  books 
which  a  school-boy  could  not  safely  read  aloud  to  his 
mother  and  sisters."  So  says  a  late  English  critic,  to  which 
another  adds,  that  if  he  has  somewhat  gone  out  of  fashion 
of  late  years,  the  more's  the  pity  for  the  school-boy  of  the 
period.  What  Defoe  is  in  Robinson  Crusoe — realistic  idyl 
of  island  solitude — that,  in  his  romantic  stories  of  wilder- 
Mem  life,  is  his  great  scholar,  Captain  Mayne  Reid. 

B.  H.  Stoddakd. 
4 


CONTENTS 


The  Camelopard, 13 

A  Fight  between  a  Qihaffe  and  Leopard,       .  16 

Lions  Hunting, 19 

Mrs.  Strutt's  Seminar r, 27 

A  Heavy  Combat, 30 

The  Adventures  of  a  Bear,     ....  36 

A  Talk  about  Tigers, 113 

A  Tiger  taken  by  Birdlime,     ....  117 

More   about    Tigers, 127 

The  Adventures  op  a  Dog,        ....  137 

A  Chapter  on  Pets, 220 

The   Moose   Hunt, 226 

Four  Footed  Hunters, 229 

The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox,      ...  236 


^torie^  of  S]:\iir\kl^. 


THE   CAMELOPARD. 

THERE  is,  perhaps,  no  living  animal  so  grace- 
ful in  form,  more  beautiful  in  color,  and 
more  stately  in  appearance  than  the  giraffe. 
Measuring  eighteen  feet  from  the  hoof  of  the  fore 
leg  to  the  crest  of  its  crown,  it  stands,  to  use  an 
American  expression,  "  The  tallest  animal  in  crea- 
tion." There  is  but  one  species  of  the  giraSe,  and 
from  the  elegance  and  stateliness  of  its  shape,  the 
pleasing  variety  of  its  colors,  its  first  appearance 
in  Europe  excited  considerable  interest. 

Although  this  animal  was  well  known  to  the 
ancient  Homans,  and  played  no  inconsiderable 
part  in  the  gorgeous  exhibitions  of  that  luxurious 
people,  yet,  with  the  ultimate  overthrow  of  the 

13 


14  The  Camelopard. 

Koman  Empire,  the  camelopard  finally  disappeared 
from  Europe,  and  for  some  centuries  became  a 
stranger  to  the  civilized  world.  We  do  not  find 
the  giraffe  again  mentioned  until  the  close  of  the 
fi-f'teeqth  centui*)/,  wjien  it  is  reported  Lorenzo  de 
Medici  exhi,¥itj3(3'';oiiQ  at  Florence.  The  first  of 
''the'sG'  aivin^als.  see^  in  England  was  a  gift  from  the 
Pasli'a''of ''Eg}^pt;  ^.o',  G.eorge  IV.  It  arrived  in 
London  in  1828,  and  died  the  following  jesiY. 

On  the  24:th  of  May,  1836,  four  giraffes  were 
exhibited  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  in  the  Regent's 
Park,  London.  Tliey  were  brought  from  the 
south w^est  of  Kordofan,  and  cost  to  transport 
£2,386  3^.  Id.,  or  over  twelve  thousand  dollars. 

From  a  cursory  glance  at  the  giraffe,  its  fore 
legs  appear  to  be  twice  as  long  as  the  hind  ones, 
but  such  is  really  not  so.  This  difference  of  ap- 
pearance is  caused  by  the  great  depth  of  the 
shoulder  compared  with  the  hips.  The  giraffe 
has  a  very  small  head,  supported  on  a  neck  nearly 
six  feet  in  length,  gently  tapering  towards  the 
crown.  His  height,  reckoning  from  the  top  of 
the  head  to  his  fore  foot,  is  about  equally  divided 
between  neck,  shoulders,  and  legs ;  measuring  from 
the  summit  of  the  hips  to  the  hoofs  of  the  hind 
feet  it  seldom  exceeds  seven  feet.  The  head  of 
the  giraffe  is  furnished  with  a  pair  of  excrescences 
of  a  porous  bony  texture,  covered  with  short 
coarse  bristles.    These  are  usually  called  horns, 


The  Camelopahd.  15 

tliongli  very  unlike  tlie  horns  of  any  other  animal. 
Tliey  cannot  be  either  for  defence  or  otfence,  as 
they  are  too  easily  displaced  to  afford  any  resist- 
ance in  case  of  collision  ;  nor  can  we  conjecture 
any  use  for  them.  The  eyes  of  the  camelopard 
are  worthy  of  all  praise.  They  are  very  large, 
softer  and  more  gentle  than  those  of  the  far-famed 
gazelle,  and  are  eo  placed  that  it  can  see  in  almost 
every  direction  without  turning  its  head.  All 
its  senses  are  so  very  acute  and  it  is  so  very  timid, 
that  it  can  only  be  approached  by  man  when 
mounted  on  a  fleet  horse.  The  giraffe  feeds  on 
tlije  leaves  and  blossoms  of  an  umbrella-shaped 
tree,  called  mokhara  by  the  Africans,  and  kameel- 
doorn  (camel thorn)  by  the  Dutch  settlers  of  the 
cape. 

As  a  grasper  or  feeler  the  tongue  of  the  giraffe 
is  used  in  the  same  way  as  the  trunk  of  the  ele- 
phant ;  but  its  great  height  enables  it  to  feed  on 
the  leaves  of  the  mokhara  far  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  latter. 

The  skin  of  the  camelopard  is  exceedingly  thick, 
often  as  much  as  an  inch  and  a  half,  and  so  hard 
that  frequently  twenty  or  thirty  bullets  are  re- 
quired to  bring  the  creature  to  the  ground.  These 
wonnds  are  always  born  in  silence,  for  the  animal 
is  dumb.  The  coat  of  the  beast  becomes  darker 
with  age.  The  color  of  the  female  is  lighter  than 
the  male,  and  she  is  also  inferior  in  point  of  size. 


16     Fight  between  a  Giraffe  and  a  Leopard. 

The  giraffe's  only  means  of  defence  is  in  its 
legs,  and  it  uses  its  heels  for  kicking  to  an  extra- 
ordinary extent,  more  so  tlian  any  other  animal, 
not  excepting  the  horse.  The  prominence  of  the 
eyes  enable  it  to  see  behind,  when  directing  its 
heels  against  an  enemy,  while  the  blow  it  gives 
will  crush  in  the  skull  of  a  man,  or  give  liim  some 
broken  ribs.  If  unmolested,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
innocent  of  animals.  Though  sometimes  it  meets 
its  death  from  animals  far  below  itself  in  size  and 
strength,  as  the  following  account  will  show. 


A  FIGHT  BETWEEN  A  GIRAFFE  AND  A  LEOPARD. 

THE  hunters  were  now  intent  upon  but  one 
object — that  of  procuring  the  giraffe. 

By  the  side  of  the  mimosa  grove  ran  a  small 
stream;  on  its  bank  they  found  traces  of  giraffes, 
at  which  they  were  quite  elated. 

Some  of  the  tracks  were  of  small  dimensions, 
but  certainly  the  marks  of  calves.  Here  was  again 
a  chance  to  satisfy  the  hunters'  ambition. 

The  next  day,  on  the  borders  of  the  kameeldoorn 
forest,  a  drove  of  giraffes  were  seen  coming  from 
the  timber  and  making  for  the  water. 

The  timid  animals,  unaware  of  their  proximity 


Fight  between  a  Giraffe  and  a  Leop^vrd.       17 

to  man,  walked  on,  until  within  two  liundred  paces 
of  where  the  hunters  stood,  without  seeing  them. 

The  J  then  turned  quickly,  and  with  a  swift  but 
awkward  gait  retreated  across  the  plain  and  away 
from  the  forest.  The  next  day  passed  without 
seeing  anything  more  of  the  giraffes,  so  the  next 
day  the  party  started  on  the  trail  of  those  they 
bad  seen  previously. 

Fifteen  miles  fai-ther  to  the  west  they  found 
another  mimosa  forest  with  a  small  lagoon,  whose 
banks  bore  hoof-marks  of  many  giraffes. 

These  were  evidently  new,  and  belonged  to  the 
same  herd  they  had  seen  the  previous  day. 

The  next  day,  being  on  the  watch,  their  ears 
were  assailed  by  the  noise  of  breaking  branches 
and  the  rushing  of  some  large  animals  through 
the  thicket.  A  few  seconds  only  elapsed  ere  the 
forms  of  two  full-grown  giraffes  were  seen  break- 
ing  from  the  thicket,  and  on  the  back  of  one  of 
them  clung  a  leopard.  Blood  was  flowing  down 
its  breast  and  it  was  reeling  wildly  from  side  to 
side.  Knowing  the  leopard  to  be  a  cowardly 
creature,  and  its  capability  for  taking  its  prey  so 
great  that  it  rarely  suffers  from  want  of  food,  and 
never  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  game,  we 
knew  that  its  attack  on  the  giraffe  must  have  been 
caused  by  some  other  motive  than  hunger.  On 
reaching  the  open  ground  we  noticed  that  the 
other  giraffe  quickly  forsook  its  mate,  which  was 


18     Fight  between  a  Giraffe  and  a  Leopard. 

now  showing  unmistakable  proof  of  fatigue,  from 
the  loss  of  blood  which  flowed  from  its  ueek  ;  we 
could  see  the  stately  beast  was  about  to  topple 
over  from  the  severe  injuries  it  had  received  from 
its  ferocious  enemy. 

We  were  now  spectators  of  a  scene  such  as  pro- 
bably  had  never  before  been  witnessed — that  of  a 
leopard  killing  a  giraffe.  Circumstances  had  fa- 
vored tlie  beast  of  prey ;  and  the  great  animal  was 
being  killed  by  one  not  the  tenth  part  of  its  own 
strength  and  size. 

Two  dogs  that  were  with  us,  not  heeding  our 
voices,  essayed  to  take  part  in  the  rencontre.  Both 
ran  yelping  after  the  giraffe,  trying  to  take  hold  of 
its  heels.  Raising  one  foot,  the  camelopard  struck 
with  unerring  aim  one  of  the  dogs,  dashing  him 
several  feet,  where  he  lay  sprawling  in  the  last  con- 
vulsions of  expiring  life.  By  making  this  effort, 
the  reeling  body  of  the  giraffe  lost  its  balance, 
and  throwing  its  head  violently  to  one  side  it  fell 
heavily  to  the  earth,  crushing  the  leopard  to  death 
under  it.  What  h'ttle  life  remained  in  the  giraffe 
soon  departed  from  it,  along  w^ith  the  blood  which 
the  beast  of  prey  had  let  out  of  its  veins. 

Standing  over  the  bodies,  we  tried  to  arrive  at 
some  comprehension  of  the  extraordinary  scene 
we  had  just  witnessed.  We  had  heard  of  a  lion 
having  ridden  on  the  back  of  a  giraffe,  but  did  not 
believe  it. 


A  Lion  Hunt.  19 

Before  us  was  evidence  that  a  leopard  Lad  done 
the  same.  Notwitlistanding  the  thickness  of  the 
hide  that  covered  the  neck  of  the  giraffe,  it  liad 
been  torn  to  slireds,  that  were  hanging  down  over 
its  shouklers.  The  h)ng  claws  and  teeth  of  the 
leopard  had  been  buried  in  its  flesh,  arteries  and 
veins  had  been  dragged  from  their  beds  and  laid 
open,  ere  the  strength  of  the  giraffe  had  forsaken  it. 


A  LION  HUNT. 


A  S  soon  as  we  had  got  to  the  north  of  the 
-^^  Gareep,  we  fell  in  with  an  adventure  worth 
relating. 

We  had  chosen  for  our  camp  the  side  of  a  lake 
in  the  midst  of  a  wide  plain  where  there  happened 
to  be  both  grass  and  water,  though  of  an  indif- 
ferent sort.  The  plain  was  open,  with  here  and 
there  clumps  of  low  bushes,  and  between  these 
stood  at  intervals  the  dome-shaped  houses  of  the 
white  ant,  of  the  Termes  mordax — rising  to  the 
height  of  several  feet  above  the  surface. 

We  had  just  outspanned  and  allowed  our  oxen 
to  wander  upon  the  grass,  when  a  voice  exclaimed, 
— "De  leuw  !  de  leuw  !"  and  there  sure  enough 
we  espied  a  black-man ed  lion — right  out  on  the 


30  A  Lion  Hunt. 

plain  and  beyond  the  place  where  the  oxen  were 
feeding. 

There  was  a  clump  of 'bosch  "  just  behind  the 
lion.  Out  of  this  he  had  sighted  the  oxen  ;  and 
having  advanced  a  few  yards,  he  had  lain  down 
again  among  the  grass,  and  now  was  watching  the 
animals  as  a  cat  would  a  mouse. 

Just  as  we  noticed  him,  another  was  seen  ad- 
vancing with  stealthy  trot  to  the  side  of  her  com- 
panion. Her  companion  I  say,  because  the  second 
was  a  lioness,  as  the  absence  of  a  mane  and  the 
tiger-like  form  testified.  She  was  very  little  in- 
ferior in  size  to  the  lion,  and  not  a  bit  less  fierce 
and  dangerous  in  any  encounter  she  might  fall  in 
with. 

Having  joined  the  lion,  she  squatted  beside 
him  ;  and  both  now  sat  upon  their  tails,  like  two 
immense  cats,  with  full  front  towards  the  camp, 
eying  the  oxen  with  hungry  looks.  They  most 
certainly  contemplated  supping  either  upon  ox- 
beef  or  horse-flesh. 

These  were  the  first  lions  we  had  encountered 
upon  the  expedition.  "Spoar"  had  been  seen 
several  times,  and  the  terrible  roar  of  the  king  of 
beasts  had  been  heard  around  the  night  camp ; 
but  this  was  the  first  time  he  had  made  his  ap- 
pearance with  his  queen  along  with  him,  and  of 
course  his  presence  created  no  small  excitement, 
amounting  almost  to  a  "  panic,"  among  us. 


A  Lion  Hunt.  21 

Our  first  fears  were  for  our  own  skins ;  after  a 
time,  however,  this  feeling  subsided :  we  knew  the 
lions  would  not  attack  the  camp,  it  being  a  thing 
they  very  rarely  do.  It  was  the  animals  they 
were  after,  and  so  long  as  these  were  present  they 
would  not  touch  their  owners. 

The  lions  lay  quietly  on  the  plain,  though 
still  in  a  menacing  attitude.  But  they  were  a 
good  way  off — full  five  hundred  yards — and  were 
not  likely  to  attack  tlie  oxen  and  horses  so  near 
to  the  camp.  The  huge  wagons — strange  sight 
to  them — no  doubt  had  the  effect  of  restraining 
them  for  the  present.  They  w^ere  evidently  wait- 
ing for  night  or  till  the  oxen  strayed  nearer  to 
them. 

It  wanted  yet  an  hour  or  two  of  sunset.  The 
lions  still  sat  squatted  on  the  grass,  closely  watched 
by  the  hunters. 

All  at  once  the  eyes  of  the  latter  became  di- 
rected upon  a  new  object.  Slowly  approaching 
over  the  distant  plain  came  two  strange  animals, 
similar  in  form  and  nearly  so  in  color  and  size. 
They  were  about  the  size  of  an  ass,  and  not  very 
unlike  in  color  the  buff  variety.  Their  forms, 
howevei",  were  more  graceful  than  that  of  the  ass, 
though  far  from  being  light  or  slender.  They 
were  singularly  marked  on  the  head  and  face; 
the  ground  color  was  white,  but  they  had  four 
dark  bands  so  disposed  as  to  give  the  appear- 


22  A  Lion  Hunt, 

ance  as  though  they  had  on  a  headstall  of  black 
leather. 

A  reversed  mane,  a  dark  list  down  the  back ; 
and  a  long  black  bushy  tail  reaching  to  the  ground 
were  characters  to  be  observed,  but  the  most  dis- 
tinguished part  of  them  was  a  splendid  pair  of 
horns,  which  were  straight  and  slender,  pointing 
backwards  almost  horizontally.  They  were  regu- 
larly ringed  till  within  a  few  inches  of  their  tips, 
which  were  as  sharp  as  steel  spits — they  were 
black  as  jet,  and  full  three  feet  in  lengtli.  The 
horns  of  the  female  were  longer  than  those  of  the 
male,  though  she  was  the  smaller  of  the  two.  At 
the  first  glance  we  all  recognized  the  beautiful 
oryx,  one  of  the  loveliest  animals  of  Africa,  in 
fact  of  the  world. 

On  seeing  the  "  Gemsboks  " — for  such  is  the 
name  by  which  the  oryx  is  known  in  South 
Africa,  our  first  thought  was  how  to  kill  them, 
for  we  knew  the  delicacy  of  their  flesh,  which  is 
not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  other  antelope,  and 
thought  how  far'superior  a  stake  of  that  w^ould  be 
to  the  jerked  meat  we  had  cooking,  that  we  all 
felt  willing  to  wait  if  we  could  only  get  some. 

What  was  the  best  course  to  pursue  ?  It  would 
scarce  be  possible  to  stalk  the  gemsboks,  they  are 
so  very  wary.  They  rarely  approach  near  any 
cover  that  might  shelter  an  enemy ;  and  when 
alarmed  they  strike  off  in  a  straight  line  for  the 
open  plain — their  natural  home. 


A  Lion  Hunt.  23 

They  can  only  be  captured  by  a  swift  horse  and 
after  a  sevei'e  chase :  even  then  sometimes  they 
manage  to  escape,  for  in  the  first  mile  they  run 
like  the  wind.  We  at  once  thought  of  our  horses, 
but  as  quickly  changed  our  minds,  for  the  ante- 
lopes were  coming  straight  for  us,  and  would  per- 
haps come  within  gunshot,  and  so  save  ns  the 
trouble  of  a  chase. 

This  was  agreeable,  as  we  were  hungry,  and  our 
horses  tired  after  a  hard  day's  work.  We  at  first 
thought  they  were  coming  for  the  water,  forget- 
ting that  the  oryx  is  an  animal  that  never  drinks^ 
so  being  quite  independent  of  springs,  streams,  or 
lakes,  they  are  one  of  those  creatures  JS^ature 
has  formed  to  live  in  deserts ;  so  it  was  evident 
they  w^ere  not  coming  for  the  water ;  still  they 
were  certainly  approaching  the  camp,  to  which 
they  still  kept  steadily  on,  cj^iiite  unconscious  of 
danger. 

It  was  not  their  fate  to  die  by  a  leaden  bullet,  as 
the  sequel  wdll  show. 

As  we  lay  watching  the  approach  of  the  gem s- 
boks  we  had  forgotten  the  lions,  but  a  movement 
on  their  part  again  drew  our  attention  to  them. 
Up  to  this  time  they  had  remained  in  an  upright 
position,  but  now  we  observed  them  crouch  flat 
down,  as  if  to  conceal  themselves  in  the  grass,  and 
turn  their  heads  in  a  new  direction,  towards  the 
gemsboks.     The  lions  had  caught  sight  of  the 


24  A  Lion  Hunt. 

antelopes  and  contemplated  an  attack ;  but  if  the 
oryx  kept  on  in  the  same  direction  they  would 
pass  far  out  of  the  reach  of  the  lion,  as  he  is  but 
a  poor  runner  compared  with  the  antelope,  and 
has  to  catch  liis  prey  by  a  few  vigorous  bounds. 
Unless,  therefore,  the  lion  could  get  within  spring- 
ing distance,  he  had  a  poor  chance  of  securing  his 
prey.  They  knew  this.  The  lion  was  observed 
to  crawl  forward  so  as  to  get  in  the  ])ath  of  the 
oryx.  Crawling  along  and  hiding  himself,  he  soon 
reached  an  ant-hill  that  stood  right  in  the  path  by 
which  they  were  advancing.  But  where  was  the 
lioness?  Where  had  she  gone?  'Not  with  the 
lion.  On  the  contrary  she  had  gone  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  We  saw  she  was  progressing  in 
the  same  way  as  the  lion  had  done,  evidently- 
making  for  the  rear  of  the  antelopes. 

The  "  strategy  "  of  the  lions  was  now  perfectly 
plain.  The  lion  was  to  place  himself  in  the  front 
while  the  lioness  swept  round  to  the  rear  and 
forced  the  prey  to  his  grasp ;  or  should  they  re- 
treat or  become  frightened,  then  the  lion  could 
drive  them  to  the  lioness.  Now  we  had  grown 
60  interested  in  the  movement  we  could  not  help 
but  watch  them,  though  it  was  likely  to  rob  us  of 
our  game. 

The  ambuscade  was  well  planned,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  its  success  was  no  longer  doubtful.  The 
gemsboks  advanced  steadily  towards  the  ant-hilh 


A  Lion  Hunt,  25 

The  lioness  had  arj*ived  in  the  rear  and  was  quiet- 
ly following  them.  As  the  antelopes  drew  near 
the  hill,  the  lion  was  observed  to  draw  iti  his 
head  under  his  shaggy  mane.  They  could  not 
have  seen  him  nor  he  them,  but  he  trusted  to  his 
ears  to  tell  him  their  location.  He  waited  till 
both  were  opposite  and  broadside  to  him  at  a  dis- 
tance of  less  than  twenty  paces.  Then,  his  tail 
was  seen  to  vibrate  with  one  or  two  quick  jerks, 
his  head  shot  suddenly  forth,  his  body  spread  out 
apparently  to  twice  its  natural  size,  and  the  next 
instant  he  rose  like  a  bird  in  the  air. 

With  one  bound  he  cleared  tlie  space,  alighting 
on  the  hind  quarters  of  the  gemsbok.  A  single 
blow  of  his  powerful  paw  brought  the  antelope 
to  the  ground  on  its  haunches,  and  another 
stretched  its  body  lifeless  on  the  plain. 

Without  looking  after  the  other  or  caring  about 
it,  the  lion  seized  its  throat  and  commenced  to 
suck  its  warm  blood. 

As  the  lion  sprang  upon  her  companion,  the 
cow  of  course  started  with  affright,  and  we  ex- 
pected to  see  her  start  off  across  the  plain.  To  our 
astonishment  she  did  nothing  of  the  sort.  Such 
is  not  the  nature  of  the  noble  oryx  :  recovering 
from  her  friglit,  she  wlieeled  round  towards  the 
enemy,  and,  lowering  her  head  to  the  very  ground, 
so  that  her  horns  projected  horizontally,  she  rushed 
with  all  her  strength  upon  the  lion.     The  first 


26  A  Lion  Hunt. 

intimation  lie  had  of  this  attack  was  to  feel  a 
pair  of  spears  pierce  right  through  his  ribs.  For 
some  moments  a  confused  struggling  was  observed 
in  which  both  lion  and  oryx  seemed  to  take  part ; 
but  the  attitudes  of  both  appeared  so  odd,  and 
changed  so  rapidly,  that  we  could  not  tell  in  what 
way  they  fought. 

The  roar  of  the  lion  now  ceased,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  shrill  notes  of  the  lioness,  who, 
bounding  forward,  mixed  at  once  in  the  melee, 
and  with  a  single  blow  of  her  paw  brought  the 
cow  oryx  to  the  ground  and  ended  the  strife. 
The  lion  was  dead  ;  the  sharp  horns  of  the  oryx 
had  done  the  work ;  but  she  was  unable  to  withdraw 
her  horns,  so  would  have  perished  with  her  victim, 
had  the  lioness  not  ended  the  affray.  This  is  not 
an  uncommon  occurrence  on  the  plains. 


Mrs.  Strctt's  Seminary.  27 


MRS.   STRUTTS  SEMINARY. 

^T^HE  bells  of  Farmfield's  Churcli  rang  merrily 
^  when  young  Mr.  Strutt  married  his  neighbour's 
daughter,  Miss  Waddle.  The  school-children  had 
a  holiday,  and  the  labourers  at  all  the  farms  in  the 
village  dined  off  roast  beef  and  plum-pudding. 
Young  Mr.  Strutt  had  passed  the  College  of  Sur- 
geons, and  set  up  in  practice  in  London,  in  a  new 
and  fashionable  neighbourhood  at  the  West  End; 
that  is,  he  had  hired  two  rooms  in  a  respectable 
looking  house,  and  bargained  to  have  his  name  on 
a  great  brass  plate  on  the  door.  But  neither  his 
wedding  nor  his  brass  plate  brought  him  any 
patients;  and  after  a  two  years'  trial,  Mr.  Strutt 
retired  from  the  profession  in  disgust. 

It  luckily  happened  that  Mrs.  Strutt's  papa,  Mr. 
Waddle,  determined  that  his  daughter  should 
receive  a  superior  education,  had  sent  her  to  a  very 
distinguished  seminary,  where  young  ladies  were 
taught  the  most  wonderful  accomplishments  by  the 
very  first  masters ;  but  where,  unfortunately,  they 
did  not  include  the  art  of  making  apple-dumplings. 

As  Mrs.  Strutt  had  no  children  of  her  own,  she 
now  determined  to  devote  her  acquirements  to  the 
benefit  of  the  children  of  other  people.    So  Mr 


28  Mrs.  Strutt's  Seminary. 

and  Mrs.  Strutt  opened  an  "Academy  for  Young 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen"  at  Kentish  Town;  and,  as 
good  fortune  would  have  it,  they  were  soon  intrast 
ed  with  the  care  of  half-a-dozen  "  boarders,"  who 
brought  their  own  forks  and  spoons,  and  v/ere  the 
children  of  very  genteel  parents,  at  least  so  Mrs. 
Strutt  told  her  visitors. 

One  thing  must  be  said,  that  both  master  and 
mistress  were  very  kind  and  attentive  to  their  young 
charges ;  and  if  they  did  not  teach  them  much,  it 
was  simply  because  they  did  not  know  how. 

One  fine  summer's  afternoon  they  all  went  to* 
gether  for  a  ramble  in  the  Highgate  Fields.  The 
elder  Master  Ilawke  took  his  drum,  and  the  younger 
had  Mrs.  Strutt's  parasol;  Miss  Duckling's  two 
brothers  had  a  kite  and  a  boat ;  and  Charley  Light- 
hair  a  whirligig.  They  flew  the  kite  high  up  till 
they  could  hardly  see  it,  and  sent  card-messengera 
of  every  colour  up  to  it :  they  swam  their  boat  in 
the  pond  ;  and  when  it  sailed  beyond  their  reach, 
Mr.  Strutt  pulled  it  back  with  his  walking  cane : 
they  ran  across  the  meadows,  and  tried  to  see  who 
eould  get  over  the  stiles  first ;  and  then  when  ihey 
were  hot  and  tired,  they  all  sat  under  the  shade  of 
the  great  elm-trees,  and  Mr.  Strutt  told  them  the 
following  anecdote : — 

"  Many  years  ago,  as  I  was  passing  through  the 
country  town  where  I  lived,  my  attention  was 
drawn  to  a  great  crowd  of  people  assembled  round 
some  apparently  very  amusing  objects.  Led  by 
curiosity,  I  mixed  in  with  them ;  and  what  did  I 
behold  but  a  fellow  whom  I  had  long  known, 


Mrs.  Strutt's  Sismtnary.  29 

named  Bruin,  teaching  a  monkey  to  perform  all 
kinds  of  tricks  ?  The  animal  stood  on  his  head, 
and,  with  his  hind  feet,  threw  sticks  up  into  the 
air;  then  he  leaped  on  Mr.  Bruin's  head,  and 
balanced  himself  on  one  hand,  and  jumped  over 
the  heads  of  the  spectators;  among  whom,  I  re' 
member,  were  my  neighbours,  Mrs.  Kangaroo  and 
her  daughter;  my  shoemaker,  old  Pidgeon,  and 
his  little  girl ;  Shark  the  lawyer ;  Mrs.  Whinchat 
the  milliner;  a  fellow  named  Ratt,  who  had  been 
twenty  times  taken  up  for  thieving ;  and  the  poul- 
terer's son,  Bill  Goose.  I  wish  you  had  been  with 
them  to  have  seen  how  Bruin  made  Jocko  the 
monkey  dance,  and  how  all  these  folks  laughed. 
They  capered  about  finely  to  get  out  of  his  way; 
but  at  last  Jocko  jumped  from  his  master's  head 
on  to  Mrs.  Whin  chat's  back,  tore  off  her  bonnet, 
and  in  two  seconds  put  it  on  the  head  of  little  Miss 
Kangaroo.  Oh,  how  the  crowd  shouted  I  Bruin 
tried  to  beat  the  animal,  but  he  laughed  too  much 
to  be  able  to  catch  him ;  and  Jocko,  pleased  at  his 
own  performance,  jumped  on  to  Ratt's  back,  and 
the  rascal  ran  half  way  down  the  street  before  the 
monkey  would  dismount.  Bruin  ran  after  them, 
and  so  great  was  the  crowd  that  pursued,  that  he 
was  glad  to  hide  both  himself  and  Jocko  in  an 
inn-yard." 

The  yeung  ones  all  laughed  famously  at  this 
story ;  and  then,  as  it  was  near  tea-time,  they  set 
off  home,  where  they  had,  for  a  treat,  hot  toast  for 
tea,  and  a  game  at  forfeits  afterwards. 


A  HEAVY  COMBAT. 


THE  wliite  rhinoceros  came  out  of  the  thicket, 
and  without  halting,  headed  up  the  valley 
to  a  small  lake,  his  object  being  to  reach  the  water. 
This  lake  was  nearly  circular  in  shape,  and  about 
one  hundred  yards  in  diameter ;  on  its  upper  side 
its  shore  was  high,  and  in  one  or  two  places  rocky. 
On  the  west  or  outer  side  of  the  lake,  the  land  lay 
lower,  and  the  water  at  one  or  two  points  lipped 
lip  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  plain,  the  bank  being 
paddled  all  over  with  tracks  of  animals  that  had 
been  to  drink. 

It  was  for  the  lower  end  of  the  lake  the  rhi- 
noceros was  making — his  old  drinking  place,  a  lit- 
tle to  one  side  of  where  the  waste  stream  of  the 
lake  ran  out.  It  was  a  sort  of  cove,  with  bright 
sandy  beach.  By  entering  this  cove  the  tallest 
animal  might  get  deep  water  and  good  bottom,  so 
that  they  could  drink  without  stooping.  The  rhi- 
noceros was  evidently  aware  of  this,  for  in  a  few 
moments  he  was  knee-deep  in  the  water,  and  swal- 
lowing  copious   draughts;  soon  he   plunged   his 

30 


A  Heavy  Combat.  31 

snout,  horn  and  all,  into  the  water,  tossed  it  abont, 
finally  lying  down  in  it,  wallowing  like  a  hog. 

Our  first  thought  was  how  to  circumvent  the 
mighty  beast  and  destroy  him,  as  there  was  not 
any  provisions  in  camp,  and  we  had  heard  the 
food  was  good.  We  had  not  any  horses  fit  to 
mount,  and  to  attack  him  on  foot  would  be  idle 
and 'dangerous,  as  he  would  very  likely  either  im- 
pale or  trample  us  to  death  under  his  huge  feet : 
so  we  determined  to  try  and  get  near  him,  fire 
from  an  ambush,  and  by  a  lucky  shot  kill  him  by 
striking  him  in  a  vital  spot. 

Y/e  had  determined  to  make  the  attempt,  and 
had  got  to  our  feet  for  that  purpose,  when  a  sud- 
den fit  seemed  to  have  attacked  our  black  servant, 
who  kept  muttering,  "Da  klow!  da  klow!"  We 
looked  in  the  direction  in  which  he  pointed  ;  there, 
sure  enough,  were  signs  of  the  elephant.  Its 
rounded  back  was  easily  distinguished  over  the 
low  bushes,  and  its  broad  hanging  ears  were  mov- 
ing as  it  marched.  We  all  saw  at  a  glance  he 
was  coming  toward  the  lake,  and  in  the  same  track 
the  rhinoceros  had  taken. 

This  at  once  disconcerted  our  plans,  the  ele- 
phant at  once  taking  the  place  of  the  other  in  our 
minds.  Before  we  could  arrange  anything,  the 
elephant  had  got  to  the  edge  of  the  lake.  Here 
he  halted,  pointed  his  proboscis  in  different  direc- 
tions, stood  quite  still  and  seemed  to  listen.    There 


32  A  Heavy  Combat. 

was  nothing  to  disturb  him:  even  the  rlunoceros 
for  the  moment  was  quiet. 

After  standing  a  minute  or  so,  the  hngli  crea- 
ture moved  forward  again,  and  entered  the  gorge 
already  described.  He  seemed  an  immense  mass, 
being  an  old  bull,  his  long  yellow  tusks  projecting 
more  than  two  yards  from  his  jaws. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  rhinoceros  had  not  ha'd  the 
slightest  intimation  of  the  elephant's  approach, 
for  the  tread  of  the  latter,  big  as  he  is,  is  as  silent 
as  a  cat's.  It  is  true  that  a  loud  rumbling  noise, 
like  distant  thunder,  proceeded  from  his  inside  as 
he  moved  along ;  but  the  rhinoceros  was  in  too 
high  a  caper,  just  then,  to  have  lieard  or  noticed 
any  sound  that  was  not  very  distinct. 

The  hugh  body  of  the  elephant  coming  sud- 
denly into  "  his  sunshine,"  and  flinging  its  dark 
shadow  over  the  lake,  was  distinct  enough,  and 
caused  the  rhinoceros  to  get  to  his  feet  with  an 
agility  truly  surprising  for  a  creature  of  his  build. 

At  the  same  time  a  noise  something  between  a 
grunt  and  a  whistle  escaped  him,  as  the  water  was 
ejected  from  his  nostrils.  The  elephant  also 
uttered  his  salute,  and  halted  as  soon  as  he  saw  the 
rhinoceros.  There  is  no  doubt  both  were  sur- 
prised, as  they  stood  eyeing  each  other  for  some 
seconds  in  astonishment. 

Symptoms  of  anger  soon  began  to  show  them- 
ielves,  as  the  elephant  could  not  get  to  the  water 


A  Heavy  Combat.  33 

comfortably  unless  the  rhinoceros  loft  the  cove, 
and  the  rhinoceros  conld  not  well  get  out  so  long 
as  the  elephant  filled  the  gorge ;  he  might  have 
swum  away  to  some  other  point,  but  that  evident- 
ly did  not  suit  hiui,  as  he  fears  neither  man  nor 
beast.  Hence  the  old  rhinoceros  had  no  intention 
of  yielding  ground  to  the  elephant.  It  remained 
to  be  seen  how  the  point  was  to  be  decided.  Af- 
fairs had  become  so  interesting  that  we  all  stood 
gazing  with  fixed  eyes  upon  the  two  great  bulls, 
for  the  rhinoceros  was  a  bull,  and  one  of  the  larg- 
est of  his  species. 

For  several  minutes  they  stood  eyeing  each  other, 
the  elephant  well  knowing  the  power  of  his  an- 
tagonist. Perhaps,  ere  now,  he  had  had  a  touch 
of  the  rhinoceros's  tusk. 

His  patience,  however,  became  exhausted,  his 
dignity  was  insulted,  and  his  rule  disputed  ;  he 
wished  to  have  his  bath,  and  would  put  up  with 
the  insults  of  the  rhinoceros  no  longer. 

With  a  bellow  that  made  the  rocks  ring  again, 
he  charged  forward,  placed  his  tusks  firmly  under 
the  shoulder  of  liis  adversary,  gave  a  lift,  and 
turned  the  rliinoceros  over  in  the  water.  For  a 
moment  the  latter  plunged,  blowed  and  snorted, 
his  head  half  under  water ;  but  in  a  second  he 
was  on  his  feet,  and  chai-ging  in  turn.  We  could 
see  that  he  aimed  right  at  his  antagonist's  ribs 
with  his  horn,  and  that  the  latter  did  all  he  could 


34  A  Heavy  Combat. 

to  keep  his  head  towards  him  ;  again  the  elephant 
threw  him,  and  again  he  rose  and  charged  madly 
upon  his  huge  foe,  and  so  both  fought,  until  the 
water  around  them  was  white  with  foam.  The  con- 
test so  far  had  been  carried  on  in  the  water,  until 
the  elephant,  seeming  to  think  his  adversary  had 
the  advantage  there,  backed  himself  into  the  gorge, 
and  stood  waiting  wdth  his  head  towards  the 
lake. 

In  this  position,  the  sides  of  the  gorge  did  not 
protect  him  as  he  fancied.  They  were  too  low, 
and  his  broad  flanks  rose  far  above  them  ;  they 
only  kept  him  from  turning  round,  and  so  inter- 
fered with  his  movements. 

As  the  elephant  took  up  his  position,  the  rhi- 
noceros clambered  out  on  the  bank,  and  then 
wheeling  suddenly,  with  head  to  the  ground,  he 
rushed  on  his  antagonist,  striking  him  right  among 
the  ribs  with  his  long  horn.  The  loud  scream  of 
the  elephant,  with  the  quick  motion  of  his  trunk 
and  tail,  told  plainly  he  had  received  a  severe 
wound.  Instead  of  standing  any  longer  in  the 
gorge,  he  rushed  into  the  lake,  and  did  not  stop 
until  he  was  knee-deep  ;  drawing  the  water  up 
into  his  trunk,  he  discharged  large  volumes  over 
his  body  and  into  the  wound  he  had  received. 

He  then  ran  out  of  the  lake,  and  charged  about 
in  search  of  the  rliinoceros,  who  could  not  be 
found,  for  as  soon  as  he  had  delivered  his  blow, 


A  Heavy  CoarBAT.  35 

he  had  galloj^ed  off,  and  disappeared  among  the 
brushes. 

The  elephant,  after  looking  about  for  his  enein}^, 
retired  to  the  lake  and  repeated  the  operation  of 
bathing  his  back  and  wound,  his  tail  continually 
in  motion,  and  uttering  low  screams,  he  lifted  liis 
huge  limbs  and  then  plunged  them  back  until 
foam  covered  the  water.  Suddenly  he  ceased  to 
churn  with  his  feet,  and  no  longer  raised  water  in 
his  trunk ;  and  now  we  saw  the  water  was  red 
with  his  blood.  For  several  minutes  lie  kept  the 
same  position,  but  his  tail  no  longer  switched,  and 
his  attitude  was  drooping.  He  now  made  a  motion 
as  though  he  was  coming  out  of  the  water,  when 
he  was  seen  to  rock  and  stagger,  and  then  roll 
over  into  the  waters  of  the  lake. 


TIC 


ADVENTURES    OP   A    BEAR, 


iND  A  GHEAT  BEAfi   TOO. 


BY  ALFRED   ELWES. 


AT    HOME. 


YES,  it  is  an  "  at  home"  to  which  I  am  going 
to  introduce  you;  but  not  the  at-home  that 
many  of  you — I  hope  all  of  you — have  learnt  to 
love,  but  the  at-home  of  a  bear.  No  carpeted 
rooms,  no  warm  curtains,  no  glowing  fireside,  no 
pictures,  no  sofas,  no  tables,  no  chairs ;  no  music, 
no  books ;  no  agreeable,  cosy  chat ;  no  anything 
half  so  pleasant:  but  soft  moss  or  snow,  spreading 
trees,  skies  with  ever-changing,  tinted  clouds,  some 
fun,  some  rough  romps,  a  good  deal  of  growling, 
and  now  and  then  a  fight.  With  these  points  of 
difterence,  you  may  believe  the  at-home  of  a  bear 
is  not  quite  so  agreeable  a  matter  as  the  at-home 
of  a  young  gentleman  or  lady;   yet  I  have  nc 


At  Home.  37 

doubt  Master  Bruin  is  much  more  at  his  ease  in  it 
than  he  would  find  himself  if  he  were  compelled 
to  conform  to  the  usages  of  human  society,  and 
behave  as  a  gentleman  ought  to  do. 

But  there  is  a  quality  that  is  quite  as  necessary 
to  adorn  one  home  as  the  other,  without  which  the 
most  delightful  mansion  and  the  warmest  cavern 
can  never  be  happy,  and  with  which  the  simplest 
cottage  and  the  meanest  den  may  be  truly  blest ; 
and  that  one  quality  is,  good  temper.  Of  what 
avail  are  comforts,  or  even  luxuries,  when  there  is 
no  seasoning  of  good  temper  to  enjoy  them  with  ? 
How  many  deficiencies  can  there  not  be  over- 
looked, when  good  temper  is  present  to  cover  them 
with  a  veil?  Perhaps  you  have  not  yet  learnt 
what  a  valuable  treasure  this  good  temper  is;  when 
you  have  read  the  history  of  my  bear,  you  will  be 
better  able  to  form  an  opinion. 

I  cannot  tell  you  when  this  bear  was  born,  nor 
am  I  quite  sure  where ;  bears  are  born  in  so  many 
parts  of  the  world  now,  that  it  becomes  very  diffi- 
cult to  determine  what  country  heard  their  first 
growl,  and  they  never  think  to  preserve  a  memo- 
randum of  the  circumstance.  Let  it  suffice  that 
our  bear  was  born,  that  he  had  a  mamma  and 
papa,  and  some  brothers  and  sisters  ;  that  he  lived 
in  a  cavern  surrounded  by  trees  and  bushes ;  that 
he  was  always  a  big  lump  of  a  bear,  invariably 
wore  a  brown  coat,  and  was  often  out  of  temper, 
or  rather,  was  always  in  temper,  only  that  tempei 
was  a  very  bad  one, 

Ko  doubt  his  parents  would  have  been  very  wil- 
a 


38  Adventurls  of  a  Bear. 

ling  to  cure  this  terrible  defect,  if  they  had  known 
how ;  but  the  fact  is,  they  seemed  always  too  much 
absorbed  in  their  own  thoughts  to  attend  much 
to  their  family.  Old  Mr.  Bruin  would  sit  in  hia 
corner  by  the  hour  together  sucking  his  paw  ;  and 
his  partner,  Mrs.  Bruin,  would  sit  in  her  corner 
sucking  her  paw ;  whilst  the  little  ones,  or  big 
ones,  for  they  were  growing  up  fast,  would  make 
themselves  into  balls  and  roll  about  the  ground,  or 
bite  one  another's  ears  by  way  of  a  joke,  or  climb 
up  the  neighbouring  trees  to  admire  the  prospect, 
and  then  slip  dowm  again,  to  the  imminent  destruc- 
tion of  their  clothes ;  not  that  a  rent  or  two  would 
have  grieved  their  mother  very  much,  for  she  was 
a  great  deal  too  old,  and  too  ignorant  besides,  to 
think  of  mending  them.  In  all  these  sports  Mas- 
ter Bruin,  the  eldest,  was  ever  the  foremost ;  but 
as  certain  as  he  joined  in  the  romps,  so  surely  were 
uproar  and  fighting  the  consequence.  The  reason 
was  clear  enough  ;  his  temper  was  so  disagreeable, 
that  although  he  was  quite  ready  to  play  off  his 
jokes  on  others,  he  could  never  bear  to  receive 
them  in  return ;  and  being,  besides,  very  fierce  and 
strong,  he  came  at  length  to  be  considered  as  the 
most  unbearable  bear  that  the  forest  had  know^n 
for  many  generations,  and  in  his  own  family  was 
looked  on  as  quite  a  bug-bear. 

Now  I  privately  think,  that  if  a  good  oaken 
stick  had  been  applied  to  his  shoulders,  or  any 
other  sensitive  part  of  his  body,  whenever  he  dis- 
played these  fits  of  spleen,  the  exercise  would 
have  had  a  very  beneficial  effect  on  his  disposi' 


At  Home.  30 

tion ;  but  his  father,  on  such  occasions,  only  ut- 
tered his  opinion  in  so  low  a  growl  that  it  was 
impossible  to  make  out  what  he  said,  and  then 
sucked  his  paw  more  vigorously  than  ever;  and 
his  mother  was  much  too  tender-hearted  to  think 
of  mending  his  manners  in  so  rude  a  way:  so 
Master  Bruin  grew  apace,  until  his  brothers  and 
sisters  were  wicked  enough  to  wish  he  might  some 
day  go  out  for  a  walk  and  forget  to  come  home 
again,  or  that  he  might  be  persuaded  by  a  kind 
friend  to  emigrate,  without  going  through  the 
ceremony  of  taking  leave  of  his  family. 

It  began  to  be  conjectured  that  some  such  event 
had  occurred  when,  for  three  whole  days,  he  never 
made  his  appearance.  The  respectable  family  of 
the  Bruins  were  puzzled,  but  calm,  notwithstand- 
ing, at  this  unusual  absence ;  it  evidently  made 
them  thoughtful,  though  it  was  impossible  to  guess 
what  they  thought  about :  if  one  could  form  an 
idea  from  the  attitudes  of  the  different  members, 
each  of  whom  sat  in  a  corner  sucking  his  right 
paw  and  his  left  paw  alternately — it  was  a  family 
habit,  you  must  know — I  should  say  their  thoughts 
were  too  deep  for  expression  ;  but  before  their 
meditations  were  converted  from  uncertainty  into 
mourning,  the  object  of  them  made  his  appearance 
at  the  entrance  of  the  cavern,  with  his  coat  torn, 
limpng  in  his  gait,  and  with  an  ugly  wound  in  his 
head,  looking  altogether  as  disconsolate  a  brute  as 
you  can  well  conceive.  He  did  not  condescend  to 
say  where  he  had  been,  nor  what  he  had  been 
doing;  perhaps  no  one  made  the  inquiry:  but  il 


40  Adventures  of  a  B?:ar. 

was  very  evident  he  harl  K:en  doing  no  good,  and 
had  got  his  reward  accordingly.  If,  however,  thia 
great  bear's  ill  temper  was  remarkable  before, 
judge  what  it  must  have  been  with  such  a  sore 
head  I 

The  experience  of  mankind  has  led  to  the  opinion, 
that  there  are  few  more  disagreeable  beings  in  crea- 
tion than  ill-nurtured  bears, — bears  that  have  been 
ill-licked — those  great,  fierce,  sullen,  cross-grained, 
and  ill-tempered  beasts,  that  are,  unhappily,  to  be 
found  in  every  part  of  this  various  world  ;  but 
when  all  these  unhandsome  qualities  are  found  in 
one  individual  of  the  species,  and  that  one  happens 
to  have  a  sore  head  into  the  bargain,  it  is  easy  to 
believe  the  at  home  which  he  honours  or  dishonours 
with  his  presence  can  neither  be  very  quiet  nor  par- 
ticularly comfortable. 

Habit  makes  many  things  supportable  which  at 
first  would  seem  beyond  our  powers  of  endurance. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  B,,  and,  indeed,  all  the  other  B.'s, 
male  and  female,  had  got  so  used  to  the  tyranny 
of  this  ill-tempered  animal,  that  they  put  up  with 
his  moroseness  almost  without  a  growl ;  but  there 
is  a  limit  to  suflPerance,  beyond  which  neither  men 
nor  bears  can  travel,  and  that  boundary  was  at  last 
attained  with  the  B.'s.  As  what  I  am  now  about 
to  relate  is,  however,  rather  an  important  fact  in 
my  biography,  I  must  inform  you  how  the  matter 
occurred,  and  what  were  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  it. 

You  are,  perhaps,  aware  that  bears,  being  of 
rather  an  indolent  disposition,  are  not  ac<iustomed 


At  Homb.  41 

to  hoard  ap  a  store  of  provision  for  their  wants  ic 
winter,  but  prefer — in  their  own  country,  at  least — 
Bleeping  through  the  short  dreary  days  and  long 
bitter  nights,  and  thus  avoid  the  necessity  of  taking 
food  for  some  weeks,  although  they  grow  very  thin 
during  their  lengthened  slumbers.  I  forget  what 
this  time  is  called  in  Ijears'  language,  but  we  give 
it  the  name  of  hybernation.  ISTow  it  happened  that 
Mrs.  Bruin  had  taken  it  into  her  head  to  lay  by 
this  winter  a  nice  little  stock,  which  she  very  care 
fully  buried  at  a  short  distance  from  the  mouth  of 
the  cavern,  w^hen  she  felt  the  usual  drowsiness  oi 
the  season  coming  on,  and  having  co  /ered  the  spot 
with  a  heap  of  dead  leaves  that  she  might  know  it 
again  when  she  woke  up,  she  crawled  into  bed,  and 
turning  her  back  to  her  old  partner,  who  was  al- 
ready in  a  comfortable  state  of  forgetfulness,  went 
fast  asleep. 

The  whole  family  rather  overslept  themselves, 
for  the  sun  was  quite  brilliant  when  they  awoke, 
and  it  was  very  evident  that  they  had  been  dozing 
away  for  some  months.  The  ill-tempered  bear  was 
the  first  on  his  legs,  and  kicking  his  two  nearest 
brothers  as  he  got  up,  just  to  hint  to  them  that  he 
was  awake  again,  he  opened  his  mouth  to  its  whole 
extent — and  a  very  great  extent  it  was,  too — and 
stretching  his  limbs  one  after  another,  and  giving 
himseli  a  hearty  shake  instead  of  washing,  shaving, 
and  combing,  he  scuffled  to  the  entrance  of  the 
cavern  and  sniffed  at  the  fresh  air.  He  sniffed 
and  snified,  and  the  more  he  sniffed,  the  more  cer- 
tainly did  his  nose  whisper  that  there  was  some- 
6* 


4:2  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

thing  else  besides  fresli  air  which  he  was  inhaling^ 
The  smell  of  the  fresh  air,  too,  or  the  something  else^ 
caused  him  a  tremendous  appetite,  which  was  every 
moment  becoming  greater;  and  then  it  entered  hia 
bearish  brain  that  where  there  was  a  smell  there 
must  be  something  to  occasion  it.  Whereupon, 
following  that  great  nose  of  his — and  he  could  not 
have  had  a  better  guide — he  scuffled  out  of  the 
cavern  and  down  the  path,  till  he  reached  a  little 
mound  of  earth  and  leaves,  where,  the  odour  being 
strongest  he  squatted  down.  With  his  great  paws 
he  soon  demolished  the  entrance  to  his  mamma's 
larder,  and  lost  no  time  in  pulling  out  some  of  the 
dainties  it  contained,  which,  w^ithout  more  ado,  he 
set  about  devouring.  Meanwhile  his  brothers,  who 
had  been  aroused  by  the  affectionate  conduct  of  the 
eldest,  were  by  this  time  also  wide  awake,  and  had 
quite  as  good  appetites  as  Bruin  himself;  and 
though  on  ordinary  occasions  they  stood  in  great 
awe  of  that  most  ill-tempered  brute,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  this  was  an  e£c^?'a-ordinary  occasion,  and 
they  acted  accordingly.  Just  fancy  being  months 
without  anything  to  eat,  and  having  appetites  fierce 
enough  to  devour  one  another. 

So  they  rushed  to  the  spot  where  Bruin  was 
making  so  excellent  a  meal,  and  without  any  other 
apology  than  a  short  grunt  or  two,  they  seized  upon 
some  of  the  hidden  treasures,  and  with  little  cere- 
mony crammed  them  into  their  hungry  jaws. 
Bruin  was  thunderstruck !  Never  before  had  they 
ever  presumed  to  dip  their  paws  into  his  dish,  and 
now  they  were  actually  before  his  face,  converting 


At  IIomb.  43 

the  most  delicate  morsels  to  tlieir  own  nee,  and,  aa 
it  were,  taking  the  food  out  of  his  very  mouth  I 
After  an  internal  struggle  of  a  few  seconds,  during 
which  it  seemed  doubtful  whether  his  emotions  or 
his  greediness  in  filling  his  jaws  so  full  would 
choke  him,  he  uttered  a  savage  growl,  and,  with 
one  stroke  of  his  huge  paw,  felled  his  younger 
brother  to  the  ground.  Then  turning  to  the  second, 
he  flew  at  him  like  a  fury,  and  seemed  resolved  to 
make  him  share  a  similar  fate ;  but  the  other,  who 
was  not  wanting  in  courage,  and  who  was  strength- 
ened by  the  idea  that  there  was  something  still  in 
the  larder  worth  fighting  for,  and  which  he  would 
certainly  lose  if  he  ran  away,  warded  off  his  blows, 
and,  by  careful  management,  now  dodging,  now 
striking,  kept  his  brother  at  ba}^,  and  avoided  com- 
ing to  such  close  quarters  a^  to  subject  himself  to 
Bruin's  hug ;  for  he  knew,  if  he  onoe  felt  that  em- 
brace, there  was  not  much  chance  of  his  having  any 
appetite  left  with  which  to  complete  his  half-fin- 
ished breakfast. 

The  noise  of  the  combat  had  now,  however, 
roused  the  family.  Mrs.  B.  was  the  first  to  make 
her  appearance,  and  she  was  soon  followed  by  tho 
rest.  Explanations  ensued,  although  the  facts  of 
the  case  were  sufficiently  clear,  and  Bruin's  charac- 
ter was  well  known.  Old  Ursus  Major  drew  him- 
self up^  and,  for  o-nce  in  his  life,  assumed  a  dignified 
demeanour.  The  ill-tempered  bear  stood  abashed 
before  his  parents,  although  he  moved  his  head  to 
and  fro  in  an  obstinate  manner,  as  though  rejecting 
all  interference, 


44  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

It  is  a  pity  I  cannot  relate  to  you  what  was  said 
upon  this  occasion,  for  Old  Bruin  is  reported  to 
have  made  a  very  eloquent  discourse  on  the  horri' 
ble  effects  of  ill-temper  and  greediness ;  and  good 
advice  is  worth  having,  whether  uttered  by  a  bear 
or  any  other  animal.  Suffice  it,  that  after  lecturing 
his  son  on  the  enormity  of  his  offences, — which 
probably  he  was  himself  partly  the  cause  of,  through 
not  punishing  many  of  his  previous  errors, — he  bid 
him  quit  for  ever  his  paternal  roof,  and  seek  his 
fortune  elsewhere ;  cautioning  him  at  the  same  time, 
that  if  he  ever  expected  to  get  through  the  world 
with  credit  to  his  name,  and  even  comfort  to  his 
rjeracjn,  he  must  be  honest,  good-tempered,  and 
foruearing. 

Bruin  took  this  advice  in  most  ungracious  part ; 
and  without  exchanging  a  word  with  any  of  the 
family,  although  it  was  evident  his  poor  old  mother 
longed  to  hug  him  in  her  arms,  he  growled  out 
some  unintelligible  words,  and  set  forth  upon  his 
travels. 


UPON  HIS  TRAVELS. 


nPHERE  is  no  denying  that  when  Bruin  had  got 
^  clear  of  the  old  familiar  path,  and  lost  sight  of 
the  dwelling  where  he  had  hitherto  spent  his  days, 
he  felt  most  particularly  uncomfortable ;  and  if  he 
had  had  the  power  of  recalling  the  past,  he  would, 
in  his  preserit  state  of  feeling,  no  doubt  have  done 


Upon  hts  Travels.  45 

80.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  the  sense  of  his 
ill-tempt;r  struck  hitn  in  all  its  ugliness ;  and  as  he 
sat  down  on  a  huge  tree  wliich  was  lying  across  his 
road,  he  looked  such  a  picture  of  disconsolateness, 
that  it  was  evident  he  would  have  felt  great  relief 
if  he  could  have  shed  some  tears.  Alas,  how  much 
does  Bruin's  condition  remind  us  of  little  scenes 
among  ourselves !  We  give  way  to  our  bad  tem- 
pers and  our  selfishness ;  we  make  ourselves  disa- 
greeable, and  our  friends  unhappy;  we  quarrel,  if 
we  do  not  actually  fight;  and  when  we  meet  the 
reward  of  our  waywardness,  and  find  ourselves 
abandoned  by  those  who  would  have  loved  us  had 
we  acted  difierently,  we  then  moan  over  our  fate, 
and  bitterly  regret  what  we  might  have  avoided^ 
Alas,  poor  human  nature !   alas,  poor  bear ! 

I  am  truly  sorry  to  observe  that  no  act  of  repent- 
ance followed  Bruin's  sense  of  desolation.  His  first 
feeling  of  sorrow  over,  he  felt  indignant  that  he 
should  have  been  so  treated ;  but,  more  than  that, 
as  he  was  still  hungry,  he  felt  regret  at  being  denied 
a  closer  search  into  his  old  mother's  larder. 

Whilst  engaged  in  his  various  reflections  he  hap- 
pened to  cast  his  eyes  up  to  a  neighbouring  hollow 
tree,  where,  at  some  height  from  the  ground,  a 
number  of  bees  were  flying  in  and  out  a  great  hole, 
with  all  the  bustle  and  buzzing  usual  to  those  busy 
people.  Now,  it  is  well  known  that  bears  are 
mightily  fond  of  honey,  and  will  run  great  risks 
in  order  to  obtain  this  dainty,  and  Bruin  was  very 
far  from  being  an  exception  to  his  tribe.  He  was 
too  Ignorant  to  reflect  that  it  was  a  great  deal  tc« 


46  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

early  in  the  season  to  hope  for  any  store,  but,  con* 
suiting  only  his  own  inclinations,  he  lost  no  time 
in  climbing  up  the  tree;  and  when  he  had  reached 
the  spot  where  the  now  angry  bees  were  hurrying 
to  and  fro  more  vigourously  than  ever,  he  thrust 
his  great  paw  into  a  hole  with  the  hope  of  drawing 
forth  a  famous  booty.  But  the  indignant  insects 
now  came  out  in  a  swarm,  and  attacked  him  with 
the  utmost  fury ;  three  of  them  settled  on  his  nose, 
and  pricked  him  most  unmercifully;  a  dozen  or 
two  planted  themselves  on  a  great  patch  behind, 
where  his  trowsers  were  worn  thin ;  and  a  whole 
troop  fastened  on  to  the  sore  place  in  his  head — for 
it  was  not  quite  healed  up — and  so  stung  him,  that, 
roaring  with  pain  and  rage,  he  threw  himself  rather 
than  descended  from  the  tree,  and  went  flying 
through  the  wood  to  get  rid  of  his  determined  little 
enemies :  they  stuck  fast,  however,  to  their  points 
of  attack,  nor  did  Bruin  get  clear  of  his  tormentors 
till  he  dashed  himself  into  a  pool  of  water  and 
buried  his  head  for  a  moment  or  two  under  the 
surface. 

It  was  with  some  degree  of  trepidation  that  he 
raised  his  nose  above  water  and  peeped  about  him; 
the  bees  were  all  gone,  so  he  crawled  out  of  the 
mud,  and  after  an  angry  shake  or  two,  for  his  coat 
was  quite  wet,  he  resumed  his  journey. 

Bruin  now  travelled  on  till  noon ;  and  what  with 
hunger  and  his  long  walk,  you  may  believe  hia 
temper  was  not  improved.  A  rustling  noise  on  the 
left,  accompanied  every  now  and  then  with  a  shorty 
contented  kind  of  grunt,  attracted  his  attention, 


Upon  his  Travels.  4T 

and  looking  through  some  brambles,  he  descried 
in  an  open  space  a  very  large  boar,  with  two  most 
formidable  tusks  protruding  from  his  jaws,  busily 
engaged  in  rooting  up  the  ground,  from  which  he 
had  extracted  a  curious  variety  of  roots  and  other 
edibles,  the  sight  of  which  made  Bruin^s  mouth 
water.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  felt  the 
necessity  of  civility ;  for  though  he  had  never  made 
any  personal  acquaintance  with  the  tribe  to  which 
the  animal  before  him  belonged,  there  were  many 
tales  current  in  his  family  of  their  ferocity  when  pro- 
voked ;  and  the  few  reasoning  powers  he  possessed 
were  sufficient  to  assure  him,  that  not  even  his 
rough  paws  or  burly  strength  would  secure  him 
from  those  glistening  tusks  if  directed  angrily 
against  him.  So  Bruin  resolved  to  try  and  be 
civil ;  and  with  this  determination  walked  into  the 
stranger's  domain,  and  accosted  him  in  as  polite  a 
way  as  his  rude  nature  would  permit  him  to  as- 
sume. 

The  animal,  who  was  known  in  his  neighbour- 
hood as  Wylde  Boare,  Esquire,  on  account  of  the 
extent  of  his  property,  received  Bruin's  advances 
with  great  caution,  for  he  was  naturally  of  a  sus- 
picious temper,  his  bright  reddish  eyes  twinkling 
in  a  very  unpleasant  manner ;  perceiving,  however, 
that  his  unexpected  visitor  was  but  a  mere  young- 
ster, and  that  he  looked  very  hungry  and  tired,  he 
grunted  out  a  surly  sort  of  welcome,  and,  jerking 
his  snout  in  the  direction  of  the  heap  of  provisions, 
bade  him  squat  down  and  make  a  meal.  Bruin 
did  not  wait  for  a  second  invitation,  but,  stretching 


4:8  Adventures  of  a  Beau. 

out  his  huge  legs,  picked  up  the  fresh  vegetables^ 
which  he  thrust  into  his  capacious  jaws  with  every 
appearance  of  relish. 

When  his  repast  came  to  an  end — and  this  did 
not  happen  till  there  was  an  end  of  the  food — he 
wiped  his  mouth  with  the  back  of  his  arm,  and 
looked  at  the  boar;  and  the  boar,  who  had  said 
nothing  during  the  disappearance  of  the  fruits  of 
his  morning's  work,  but  had  contented  himself  with 
uttering  a  grunt  or  two,  looked  at  Bruin.  At 
length  he  observed, — 

"  Hurgh,  vou  have  a  famous  appetite!" 

"Ah,"  answered  the  bear,  "and  so  would  you, 
if  you  had  not  eaten  anything  for  the  last  few 
weeks  1" 

After  a  pause : — 

"  Hurgh,  hurgh !"  said  Mr.  Boare,  in  a  guttural 
voice ;  "I  never  tried ;  but  a  big  fellow  like  you 
ought  to  be  able  to  get  through  a  deal  of  work  1" 

"Perhaps  so,"  observed  the  surly  bear;  "but  I 
don't  intend  to  make  the  experiment." 

After  another  pause : — 

"  Hurgh,  an  idle  fellow,  I'm  afraid  1"  said  Mr. 
Boare,  half  aside ;  "  and  not  quite  so  civil  as  before 
his  breakfast."  Then  he  exclaimed  aloud,  "I  sup- 
pose you  will  make  no  objection  to  help  me  dig  up 
some  more  food,  seeing  that  you  have  made  away 
with  my  dinner,  hurgh?" 

"  Who  do  you  take  me  for?"  said  the  ungrateful 
beast,  springing  to  his  legs,  and  eyeing  his  enter- 
tainer with  one  of  his  furious  looks. 

"  Who  do  I  take  you  for,  hurgh,  you  graceless 


UroN  HIS  Travels.  4^ 

cub?"  exclaimed  Mr.  Boare,  in  a  rage,  for  he  was 
rather  hasty  in  liis  manner,  and  his  red  eyes  twin* 
kled,  and  his  back  began  to  get  up  in  a  way  which 
showed  his  agitation;  "who  do  I  take  you  for? 
Why,  I  did  take  you  for  one  who  would  be  at  least 
thankful  for  food  given  you  when  almost  starving: 
but  I  now  perceive  you  are  only  an  ugly  lump  of 
a  bear.  Out  of  my  sight  this  instant,  or,  from  want 
of  my  own  dinner,  which  you  have  devoured,  I 
shall,  perchance,  make  a  meal  of  you! — hurgh, 
hurgh !" 

As  he  said  these  words  the  bristles  on  his  back 
started  up  so  furiously,  and  his  tusks  glistened  so 
horridly  in  a  little  ray  of  sunlight,  which  was  peep- 
ing in  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  that  Master 
Bruin  felt  thoroughly  frightened,  and  made  a  pre- 
cipitate retreat,  turning  round  at  every  few  steps 
to  observe  whether  he  were  followed,  and  if  it  would 
be  necessary  to  take  refuge  in  one  of  the  trees ;  but 
Wylde  Boare,  Esq.  only  grunted  out  his  favourite 
expression,  which,  in  this  case,  was  mixed  with  a 
great  deal  of  contempt,  and  recommenced  digging 
for  his  dinner  as  if  nothing  had  occurred  to  dis- 
turb his  usual  contented  state  of  mind. 

Bruin  now  travelled  on  till  he  reached  a  stream, 
which  came  bounding  through  this  part  of  the 
wood  at  a  very  rapid  pace,  and  making  a  terrible 
fuss  because  sundry  large  stones  in  the  middle  of 
its  course  rather  impeded  its  progress.  The  noise 
it  made,  and  the  anger  it  showed,  seemed  to  please 
our  sulky  bear  mightily,  so  he  sat  down  on  the 
bank  with  his  toes  in  the  water  to  enjoy  the  speo- 
7 


50  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

tacle.  The  scene  was  a  very  striking  oiKi,  and  was 
fitted  to  charm  the  most  indifferent  eye;  and  Bruin, 
bear  as  he  was,  could  not  help  being  attracted  by 
it.  Whatever  his  meditations,  however,  it  was  not 
destined  that  he  should  pursue  them  long  without 
interruption ;  for  his  quick  ear  soon  detected  tho 
sharp,  quick  bark  of  several  dogs — a  sound  that 
was  carried  along  by  a  breeze  which  swept  by  him 
at  intervals.  He  raised  his  head  with  his  huge 
nose  in  the  air  to  sniff  out  any  possible  danger, 
and  did  not  seem  at  all  pleased  with  the  result  of 
his  observations;  for  he  drew  first  one  foot  and 
then  the  other  out  of  the  water,  and  raised  him- 
self to  his  full  height.  As  he  did  so,  a  more  than 
usual  commotion  in  the  stream  drew  his  attention, 
when  he  perceived  the  round  head  of  a  large  otter 
appear  above  the  surface,  whilst  two  bright  eyes 
gave  a  hasty  look  all  round.  On  observing  Bruin, 
the  head  immediately  disappeared,  and  at  the  same 
moment  a  wliole  pack  of  terriers,  in  hot  haste,  came 
sweeping  round  a  bank  hard  by,  but  stopped  short 
on  finding  themselves  in  presence  of  such  a  formi- 
dable creature. 

Bruin  perceived  that  he  had  made  an  impres- 
sion, and  his  usual  insolence  returned ;  for  he  had 
at  first  been  startled,  and  he  attributed  the  pause 
of  the  terriers  to  fear,  when,  in  fact,  it  was  only  the 
result  of  surprise.  If  he  had  been  a  little  better 
physiognomist,  he  would  have  observed  a  certain 
air  of  determination  about  the  little  fellows,  which 
sufficiently  showed  that  it  was  prudence  or  a  sensa 
of  duty  which  stayed  them,  and  not  a  lack  of 


Upon  iiib  Travels.  5J 

courage:  they  had  been  sent  out  to  pro(jure  an 
otter,  and  tliej  were  now  deliberating  among  them- 
selves whether  it  would  be  wise  to  spend  their  time 
in  quarrelling  with  a  bear. 

After  a  short  consultation,  one  who  appeared  to 
have  the  guidance  of  the  pack  uttered  a  decided 
little  bark,  and  turning  a  little  aside,  endeavoured 
to  pass  between  Bruin  and  the  stream,  but  suffi- 
ciently near  to  show  that  he  was  not  afraid  to  come 
into  contact  with  him,  followed  by  his  companions. 
This  evidently  contemptuous  mode  of  treating  him, 
aroused  all  our  ill-tempered  hero's  bad  humour; 
so,  without  considering  the  consequences  of  the 
action,  he  raised  his  big  paw  and  knocked  the 
leader  down.  The  sturdy  little  fellows  wanted  no 
further  provocation;  as  if  influenced  by  a  single 
will,  they  turned  upon  him,  and  attacked  him  in 
front,  flank,  and  rear,  with  an  impetuosity  which 
was  at  first  irresistible,  because  unexpected.  Find 
ing  that  those  behind  him  were  his  greatest  and 
most  successful  tormentors,  he  very  prudently  sat 
himself  down,  crushing  one  or  two  of  them  in  hia 
descent;  then  springing  to  his  legs,  and  as  he  did 
BO  catching  several  more  in  his  arms,  he  hugged 
them  till  they  had  no  more  breath  in  their  bodies, 
when  he  dropped  them  and  took  up  a  fresh  sup- 
ply. One  of  the  pack,  however,  more  alert  than 
his  fellows,  sprang  up  and  seized  him  by  the  nose, 
making  his  teeth  meet  in  that  prominent  feature, 
and  caused  Bruin  such  intense  pain,  that,  forgetting 
all  his  strategy,  he  tried  to  beat  down  his  deter- 
mined little  foe  with  his  paws,  and  ran  off  howling 


52  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

in  a  most  terrific  manner,  pursued  by  the  remaiii« 
der  of  the  pack,  who  bit  at  his  hind  legs,  tore  hit:? 
already  ragged  coat  till  it  hung  in  ribbons;  and 
when  Bruin,  who,  having  at  length  got  rid  of  the 
bold  little  fellow  that  had  fastened  to  his  nose, 
climbed  up  a  tree,  they  stood  yelping  at  the  foot 
of  it,  till  evening  had  completely  set  in,  when  they 
slowly  retired. 

And  what  were  our  ill-natured  hero's  thoughts, 
as  he  sat  upon  an  elevated  branch,  and  gently  rub- 
bed his  wounded  snout?  Why,  unfortunately  for 
his  own  happiness,  he  laid  the  blame  of  his  mishap 
on  any  one  or  any  thing,  rather  than  the  right  be- 
ing or  circumstance.  It  was  the  otter's  fault,  or 
the  dogs'  fault — those  dogs  were  always  so  quarrel- 
some; or  it  was  his  father's  fault  in  driving  him 
away  from  home :  in  fact,  every  one  was  in  error 
rather  than  himself  and  his  own  disagreeable  dis- 
position. And  here  we  may  observe,  that  they  are 
such  characters  as  Bruin  who  bring  disrepute  on  a 
whole  tribe ;  for  we  are  too  apt  to  form  our  opinions 
of  a  nation  by  the  few  individuals  we  may  happen 
to  fall  in  with,  although,  probably,  no  conclusions 
can  be  falser.  Let  us,  therefore,  be  careful  ere  we 
form  our  judgments,  and  let  us  not  believe  that  all 
Bruin's  kindred  and  compatriots  were  sulky  and 
ill-tempered  because  he  himself  was  such  a  dis- 
agreeable lump  of  a  bear. 


Town   Lif«.  53 


TOWN  LIFE. 

BBUIN  woke  up  next  morning  with  so  uncom- 
fortable a  feeling  of  soreness  from  the  rough 
treatment  he  had  received,  that  it  was  with  some 
difficulty  he  was  enabled  to  move  bis  heavy  limbs; 
and  he  found  sitting  so  unpleasant  a  posture,  that 
he  lay  stretched  across  two  or  three  branches  for 
several  hours,  and  in  a  very  ill-humour,  indeed, 
watched  the  activity  displayed  beneath  and  around 
him.  Now  a  stealthy  fox,  upon  some  foraging 
expedition,  would  come  creeping  along,  his  foot 
fall  scarcely  heard  on  the  withered  leaves  and  dead 
branches ;  now  a  timid  mouse  would  leap  nimbly 
by,  and,  at  the  least  signal  of  danger,  would  dis- 
appear as  if  by  enchantment;  then  a  frolicsome 
squirrel,  vaulting  as  fearlessly  from  bough  to 
bough  as  if  he  were  not  fifty  feet  from  the  ground, 
would  arouse  him  for  a  minute  from  his  sulky 
mood,  and  light  up  his  fierce  eye  with  an  expres- 
Bion  of  interest  which  it  was  very  clear  had  no 
higher  source  than  a  hope  that  the  little  tumbler 
might  fall  down  and  break  his  neck,  for  daring  to 
be  in  such  a  good  humour.  But  the  birds,  above 
all,  excited  his  anger;  for  seeing  them  flying  about 
gaily  in  the  sun,  which  tinged  the  tops  of  the  trees 
so  gloriously,  Bruin  actually  growled  with  indig- 
nation— a  sound  which  nearly  caused  that  accident 
to  Master  Squirrel  that  our  ungracious  hero  had 
desired  for  him,  so  terribly  was  he  frightened. 
7* 


5^  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

A  few  days  thus  spent  sufficiently  recoverevi  him 
to  render  him  capable  of  moving,  when  he  descended 
from  his  temporary  hospital,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a 
thick  staff,  which  he  had  provided  himself  for  the 
purpose,  set  off  once  more,  supplying  his  wants  in 
the  way  of  food  with  such  edibles  as  fell  in  hia 
way,  a  bear  not  being  remarkably  particular  con- 
cerning its  quality  or  kind.  One  only  thought 
now  possessed  him, — that  of  quitting  the  wooded 
ground  where  his  life  had  hitherto  been  passed,  and 
reaching  one  of  those  spots  where,  as  he  had  heard 
his  parents  relate,  animals  of  various  kinds  con- 
gregate together,  and  live  in  habitations  raised  by 
their  own  ingenuity  ;  in  fact,  a  city. 

"  At  least,"  he  thought,  "  if  what  I  have  heard 
of  such  places  be  true,  and  that  merit  of  every  kind 
is  certain  there  to  meet  its  reward,  and  be  properly 
appreciated,  I  shall  stand  a  better  chance  than  my 
neighbours."  With  this  reflection,  he  shuffled  on 
a  little  quicker ;  and  the  reader,  who  has  been  thus 
allowed  a  private  view  of  his  motives,  will  observe 
that  modesty  was  not  among  Bruin's  list  of  vir- 
tues. 

After  a  day's  march,  with  sundry  restings  by  the 
way — -for  he  was  not  in  good  travelling  order — he 
reached  the  outskirts  of  the  wood ;  and  when  he 
got  beyond  it,  he  stood  still  to  mark  the  prospect, 
which  was,  in  sooth,  a  very  charming  one,  and  the 
more  striking  to  him  as  being  so  entirely  novel. 
As  he  stood  on  a  rising  ground,  the  scene  lay 
beneath;  and  the  sun,  which  was  nearing  the  h(> 
rizon,  darted  his  level  beams  through  a  gentle  mial 


Town  Life.  55 

that  was  beginning  to  rise  from  the  valley,  and 
made  a  wondrous  golden  haze,  shedding  beauty' 
over  every  object  within  its  influence.  A  silvery 
brook  ran  from  some  distant  hills,  and,  after  nu- 
merous windings,  spread  into  a  broad  pond ;  then 
narrowing  again,  with  an  abrupt  fall  or  two,  which 
made  its  pace  the  faster,  it  ran  noiselessly  through 
some  green  meadows,  where  cattle  and  horses  were 
grazing,  then  made  a  bend  into  the  wood,  where  it 
was  lost  to  view.  Bruin's  quick  eye  scarcely,  how- 
ever, watched  its  course,  for  his  whole  attention 
was  rivetted  on  what  to  him  was  of  more  interest, — 
the  city  to  which  his  weary  steps  were  directed. 
It  stood  upon  the  margin  of  the  rivulet,  just  before 
its  waters  expanded  into  the  little  lake,  and  seemed 
to  occupy  a  considerable  extent  of  ground.  It  was 
neither  handsomely  nor  regularly  built,  yet  it  had 
an  imposing  effect  as  a  whole,  and  in  Bruin's  eyes 
seemed  to  need  nothing  in  the  way  of  architecture. 
Its  inhabitants,  I  may  observe  in  passing,  were 
principally  descendants  of  canine  tribes,  with  a  few 
pussies,  who,  for  some  worldly  advantage,  had 
overcome  their  prejudices  to  such  society;  and  a 
flock  or  two  of  birds  :  as  the  latter,  however,  were 
of  a  volatile  disposition,  and  were  constantly  on 
the  move,  they  resided  principally  in  the  higher 
portions  of  the  city,  so  that  they  might  come  and 
go  without  interfering  with  the  steadier  habits  of 
the  animal  population.  Several  horses  and  black 
cattle  resided  in  the  environs,  but,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  donkey  or  two,  rarely  entered  the  town, 
for  they  found  few  inducements  in  the  noisy  streete 


56 


Adventures  of  a  Bear. 


to  compensate  them  for  the  charm  and  tranquillity 
of  a  rural  life. 

After  contemplating  the  scene  for  some  time, 
Bruin  slowly  descended  the  hill,  his  confidence  in 
his  own  powers  somewhat  weakened  now  he  waa 
in  sight  of  the  spot  where  they  were  to  be  called 
into  action  ;  one  reason  for  this  slight  depression 
of  his  spirits  arising,  probably,  from  his  ignorance 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  great  city,  for  the  intelligence 
just  communicated  to  the  reader  was  at  that  time 
totally  unknown  to  him.  The  strange  appearance, 
also,  of  every  creature  he  now  met,  contributed  to 
abash  him ;  for  every  one  who  had  any  pretensions 
to  respectabilit}^  wore  over  the  coats  with  which 
nature  had  provided  them,  clothes  of  a  cut  that 
looked  wonderful  in  the  eyes  of  the  untutored 
Bruin.  His  own  aspect  was,  meanwhile,  not  less 
odd  in  the  opinion  of  the  more  civilised  animals. 
His  untrimmed  hair  and  beard,  his  ragged  coat,  his 
queer  gait,  and  the  unrestrained  gape  of  wonder 
with  which  he  stared  around  him,  were  sufficient 
to  excite  the  attention  of  the  most  indifferent,  and 
it  was  with  a  tolerably  large  train  at  his  heels  that 
he  reached  the  entrance  to  the  principal  street. 
Here  crowds  of  well-dressed  dogs,  both  male  and 
female  (the  latter  always  well  attended),  were  walk- 
ing about  or  idling  the  time  away ;  town-bred  pup- 
pies, with  insolent  stare,  were  lounging  at  every 
turn,  their  delicate  paws  proving  how  little  they 
were  used  to  labour.  On  one  side  Bruin  observed 
a  gracefully-proportioned  white  cat,  veiled,  gliding 
demurely  aLong,  whilst  a  strong  tabby,  her  nurse, 


Town  Ltpe.  57 

purred  beliind,  with  three  little  kittens  in  her 
arms,  mewing  to  their  heart's  content ;  and  on  the 
other  several  huge  mastiffs,  stalking  gravely  in  a 
row,  like  policemen  in  our  London  streets  going  to 
their  beats,  the  animals  to  which  they  have  been 
compared  being  bound  on  a  similar  errand. 

These  various  sights  proved  to  Bruin  that  there 
must  be  a  different  agency  at  work  to  that  which 
existed  in  his  native  forest.  He  was  wise  enousrh 
to  perceive  that  mere  animal  force  was  not  likely 
to  succeed  here,  or  hold  the  same  position  as  it  did 
in  the  land  where  he  was  born  and  had  spent  his 
earlier  years.  The  appearances  of  wealth  on  one 
hand,  the  evidences  of  a  soldier-like  discipline  and 
order  on  the  other,  convinced  him  that  this  was  no 
place  to  vent  his  ill-humour  by  an  exhibition  of 
brute  strength,  for  that  it  was  sure  to  meet  more 
than  its  match ;  whilst  the  uncertainty  of  the  pun- 
ishment which  would  attend  such  outbreak,  pro- 
vided it  were  indulged  in,  made  him  resolve,  at 
least,  to  put  a  curb  upon  his  public  conduct.  This 
was  the  first  great  step  in  Bruin's  education ;  a 
step,  alas  I  merely  taught  him  by  his  fears.  Had 
it  sprung  from  higher  sources,  there  would  have 
been  a  chance  of  its  doing  permanent  good ;  but 
what  solid  benefit  can  be  reckoned  on  or  attained 
which  arises  from  such  a  motive  ? 

The  attention  that  the  rough  stranger  from  a 
distant  country  met  with  from  the  civilized  pop- 
ulation of  Caneville  (for  that,  or  something  ike  it 
was  the  name  of  the  city),  was  beginning  to  be 
rather  irksome  to  him.     Every  lady-dog,  as  al\o 


68  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

passed  liim,  seemed  anxious  to  allow  him  plenty  of 
room  ;  the  three  kittens  in  arms,  at  sight  of  him  set 
up  a- chorus  of  cries,  which  their  nurse  tried  in  vain 
to  appease ;  a  mastiff,  who  was  on  guard  on  the 
opposite  side  of  tlie  way,  seemed  very  much  in- 
clined to  interfere  for  the  preservation  of  public 
peace ;  whilst  a  couple  of  puppies,  touched  off  in 
the  extreme  of  the  then  prevailing  fashion  at  Cane- 
ville,  turned  up  their  noses  and  their  tails  in  a  way 
which  seemed  to  render  it  perfectly  marvellous  how 
they  kept  upon  their  legs.  All  this  was  sufficiently 
irritating,  even  to  the  most  good-natured  of  beings, 
and  Bruin  found  it  especially  hard  to  bear ;  he  was 
assisted,  however,  in  his  prudential  resolution  to 
abstain  from  any  outward  exhibition  of  wrath  by  a 
sound  which  was  as  new  to  his  ear  as  it  was  exciting 
to  his  feelings.  It  came  from  the  upper  end  of  the 
street,  where  a  crowd  had  assembled ;  and  as  every 
one  in  his  neighbourhood  seemed  to  think  the 
amusement  it  promised  would  be  of  a  more  in- 
teresting kind  than  baiting  a  bear,  and  had  hastened 
in  the  direction  whence  it  proceeded.  Bruin  thought 
he  could  not  do  better  than  follow  their  example. 

On  reaching  the  spot,  his  great  height  enabled 
him  to  get  a  view  of  what  was  going  on ;  and  as 
he  pressed  forward,  the  animals  with  which  he 
came  in  contact  gladly  made  way  at  his  approach, 
so  that  in  a  few  seconds  he  stood  in  the  front  row 
of  a  large  circle,  the  centre  of  which  was  occupied 
by  a  fat,  overgrown  pig,  with  an  astonishingly  long 
snout,  and  a  couple  of  rings  through  it  by  way  of 
ornament;  two  equally  long  ears,  that  had  evi- 


Town  Life.  59 

dently  been  submitted  to  some  curious  operation, 
for  they  were  slit  in  various  places,  and  hung  down 
from  his  head  like  uncombed  locks  of  hair;  and  a 
pair  of  very  sharp  little  eyes,  which  seemed  to  have 
the  unpleasant  power  of  piercing  right  through 
you,  if  in  their  incessant  wanderings  they  chanced 
to  catch  a  look  from  your  own.  It  was  very  evi- 
dent that  this  animal,  who  was  quite  a  savant^  or, 
as  we  should  say,  a  learned  pig,  enjoyed  a  high 
reputation  in  the  community  of  Caneville,  where 
he  had  been  setttled  some  time ;  and  whenever,  as 
now,  he  chose  to  make  an  outdoor  exhibition  of 
liimself  and  his  powers,  he  was  certain  of  a  very 
full  audience. 

Behind  him  stood  a  punchy  little  bull-dog,  with 
an  inflamed  countenance,  evidently  caused  by  too 
close  application  to  a  mouth-organ,  arranged  in  such 
a  way  as  to  be  at  a  convenient  distance  from  his 
capacious  muzzle  ;  and  before  him  was  a  drum,  an 
article  on  which  Bruin  looked  with  a  curious  and 
most  ludicrous  expression  of  physiognomy.  As 
he  was  now  in  the  foremost  van,  he  gradually  edged 
near  and  nearer  to  the  object  of  his  attraction, 
whilst  the  learned  beast  was  making  preparations 
for  a  grand  display  ;  and  just  as  Bruin  had  reached 
the  place  where  the  drummer  had  taken  his  stand, 
llerr  Schwein  (so  was  he  called)  gave  orders  for  a 
Sourish  of  music  by  way  of  opening  the  perform- 
ance. But  how  de-scribe  the  effect  which  the  sound 
produced  on  our  be^r  ?  At  the  first  stroke  of  the 
stick  on  the  drum,  he  leaped  from  the  ground  as 
if  he  had  been  shot ;  then  giving  utterance  to  a 


^0  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

prolonged  howl,  he  began  dauci-ng  about  in  a  way 
which  would  have  been  irresistibly  funny,  if  the 
audience  had  not  been  too  frightened  to  stop  and 
witness  it.     As  it  happened,  a  general  panic  seized 
the  multitude,  and  off  went  good  part  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  Oaneville,  howling,  screaming,  and  yelp- 
ing to  their  various  homes,  where  they,  of  course, 
each  gave  a  different  version  of  the  story.     The 
learned  pig  alone,  and  his  faithful  Tom,  who  would 
not  run  away  for  anybody,  were  the  only  creatures 
who  stood  their  ground ;  the  former,  because  he 
had  travelled  much  and  was  acquainted  with  the 
peculiarities  of  bears ;  and  the  latter,  partly  for  the 
reason  just  given,  and  in  part  because  he  was  so 
fixed  to  the  drum  that  to  go  away  without  it  was 
impossible ;  and  to  go  away  with  it,  without  pre- 
vious packing,  would  have  been  equally  difficult, 
so  he  stood  his  ground  and  watched  the  proceed- 
ings. 

On  the  ceasing  of  the  music  and  dispersing  of 
the  crowd  our  hero  also  stood  still,  as  much  sur- 
prised as  any  of  the  former  spectators  at  the  effect 
he  had  produced ;  and  then  feeling  still  more  sen 
jsibly  the  effects  of  his  fatigues,  he  sat  down  pant- 
ing and  exhausted.  The  pig,  who  had  been  quietly 
watching  him,  and  had  evidently  been  revolving 
some  interesting  thoughts  in  his  contemplative 
brain,  shortly  after  rose,  and  gathering  up  the 
things  which  were  to  have  figured  in  his  evening's 
performance,  and  assisting  to  pack  the  drum  com- 
fortably on  Tom's  back,  beckoned  to  the  bear,  and 
waddled  gently  off  in  an  opposite  direction  of  the 


Town  Lifk;  fit 

city  to  that  where  Bruin  had  entered.  Our  in- 
teresting brute  hesitated  a  moment ;  but  being 
nudged  by  Tom,  who  uttered  at  the  same  titue  a 
word  or  two  of  encouragement,  which,  to  rendei 
intelligible,  may  be  translated  by  "Come  along, 
stupid  I"  he  mechanically  followed  this  fast  young 
dog,  and  they  all  reached  the  pig^s  habitation  just 
as  evening  was  falling. 

After  the  bear  had  been  regaled  with  a  most 
hearty  supper — for  pigs,  it  may  be  remarked  by 
the  way,  are  famous  caterers — his  learned  host  un- 
folded to  him  his  plans.     He  explained  the  nature 
of  his   own   avocations;    how  that   he   had   sup- 
ported himself,   and  saved  a  nice  little  store  be 
sides,  through  telling  the   fortunes   and   relating 
the  age  of  the  lady-dogs  and  doglets  of  Caneville ; 
and  how  he  performed  sundry  conjuring  tricks, 
which,  though  easy  enough  when  found  out,  had 
earned  for  him  an  astonishing  reputation  among 
the  simple  animals  of  the  city,   who  never  had 
penetrated  the  secret.     He  explained,  besides,  that 
there   were  many  more  he  could  perform  if  his 
figure  were  more  slim  and  his  movements  as  active 
as  they  had  been  some  years  ago,  before  time,  by 
increasing  his  rotundity,  had  lessened  the  ease  of 
his  motions ;  but  that  if  Bruin  would  undertake  to 
learn  them,  his  fortune  was  as  good  as  made :  for 
he,  Herr  Schwein,  would  not  only  teach  him  all 
he  knew,  but  would  reward  him  with  half  the  pro- 
fits derived  from  his  performance,  when  he  should 
have    mastered    his    studies.      This  proposal    so 
jumped  with  Bruin's  humour,  that  he  consented 


62  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

without  further  solicitation,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
his  engagement  should  commence  from  the  follow- 
ing day. 

With  the  morning's  sun  did  our  hero's  lessons 
begin ;  and  as  Nature  had  not  added  stupidity  to 
his  various  weaknesses,  he  made  really  rapid  pro- 
gress. But  poor  Piggy  found  it  dreadfully  hard 
work,  and  more  than  once  repented  his  bargain; 
for  though  reflection  and  circumstances  had  made 
him  a  philosopher,  and  travelling  had  taught  him 
experience,  it  required  all  his  philosophy  and  his 
utmost  skill  to  support  the  weight  of  Bruin's  un- 
handsome temper  and  prevent  an  utter  breach  be- 
tween them.  Pride,  however,  and  a  natural  wish 
to  reap  the  harvest  which  he  had  sown  at  the  cost 
of  so  much  pains  and  labour,  induced  him  to  per- 
severe, and  the  day  at  length  arrived  when  Bruin 
was  to  make  his  next  appearance  in  public.  Since 
the  first  evening  of  his  arrival  he  had  kept  strictly 
within  his  employer's  grounds,  and  had  familiarised 
his  mind  with  the  mouth-organ  and  the  drum. 
But  now  the  sun  had  risen  that  was  to  shine  on 
him  again  abroad;  he  felt  considerably  elated; 
the  idea  of  sporting  a  handsome  pair  of  silk  drawers, 
and  a  medal  with  a  ribbon  round  his  neck,  and  a 
silver  anklet,  contributing  not  a  little  to  produce 
the  feeling. 

The  pig,  who  knew  the  value  of  notoriety  in 
Buch  cases,  had,  from  early  morning,  kept  Tom 
parading  the  streets  with  a  large  placard  over  hig 
shoulders,  announcing 


Town  T.tfe  63 

THE  ARRIVAL 

ov  A 

DISTINGUISHED  FOREIGNER ! 

ENGAGED  BY  HERE  SCHVVEIN  AT  A  RUINOUS  EXPENSE  1 1 
FOR  A  LIMITED  NUMBER  OF  REPRESENTATIONS, 

TO   PERFORM 

HIS  EXTRAORDINARY  AND  INTENSELY  INTERESTING  FEATS 

BEFORB  TnS 

HIGULY-DTSCRIMINATING  PUBLIC 
OF  CANEVILLE !  1 1 

The  highly-discriminating  being  thus  prepared, 
assembled  in  the  great  square,  the  place  chosen  for 
the  exhibition,  long  before  the  appointed  hour. 
The  ladies  were  arranged  in  the  foremost  rank, 
with  a  politeness  that  was  perfectly  edifying,  whilst 
knots  of  fashionable  dogs  and  cats  got  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  reigning  favourites ;  curs  of  inferior 
degree  occupied  the  outermost  ranks,  and  a  bird  or 
two  got  gallery  places  above  the  heads  of  the  ani- 
mal spectators.  It  was  when  expectation  was 
raised  to  that  pitch  which  usually  finds  vent  in  the 
most  discordant  cries,  that  Bruin,  carrying  a  bag, 
followed  by  Tom  with  the  drum,  made  his  appear- 
ance,— a  sight  which  caused  universal  approbation. 
Some  praised  his  evident  strength,  others  admired 
his  dress,  and  some  again  criticised  his  figure ;  but 
when  he  drew  out  from  his  bag  a  quantity  of  sin- 
gular objects,  and  Tom  struck  up  an  extraordinary 
extempore  air  with  variations  on  the  pipes,  accom- 
panied by  sundry  vicious  blows  on  the  drum,  pub- 
lic curiosity  was  strained  to  the  utmost 


64  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

When  tlie  music  ceased,  Bruin  imperatively 
waved  the  spectators  back,  and  the  performance 
began.  He  handled  a  pair  of  knives  in  a  way 
which  made  the  beholders  tremble;  for  those  im- 
plements were  swallowed  and  appeared  again  at 
the  tips  of  his  paws  or  the  end  of  his  nose,  without 
doing  him  any  injury,  and  they  were  forced  into 
his  arms  and  drawn  furiously  across  his  throat 
without  causing  the  slightest  wound ;  and  then 
they  were  tucked  into  his  waistband,  and  after 
sundry  contortions  and  leaps,  and  affected  atti- 
tudes, they  were  pulled  from  out  his  capacious 
jaws,  where  they  had  stuck  fast,  to  the  wonder 
and  delight  of  the  spectators.  Then  he  took  up 
three  balls  of  polished  brass,  which  seemed  too 
heavy  for  any  fashionable  puppy  present  to  lift, 
and  commenced  a  wonderful  series  of  exploits  with 
them.  Now  they  leaped  a  great  height  into  the 
air,  one  after  another,  with  a  rapidity  which  made 
the  crowd's  eyes  water;  then  they  ran  over  his 
shoulders,  and  down  his  back,  and  between  his 
legs,  and  over  his  shoulders  again  in  a  continuous 
stream ;  and  then  they  went  bumping  over  every 
projecting  part  of  his  body,  leaping  here,  jumping 
there,  now  on  the  top  of  his  head,  now  on  the  tip 
of  his  nose,  and  never  falling  to  the  ground,  and 
always  going  this  game  with  such  wondrous  swift- 
ness, as  though  there  were  thirty  balls  instead  of 
three.  But  the  feat  which  pleased  them  most,  and 
which  may  be  called  the  crowning  effort  of  the 
display,  was  when  Bruin  balanced  a  short  stick  on 
his  forehead  with  a  pewter  plate  on  the  top  of  it, 


Prosperity.  65 

which,  by  some  mysterious  agency,  was  made  to 
spin  round  and  round,  and  dazzle  the  optics  of  the 
crowd  as  it  glittered  in  the  sun.  At  this  marvel- 
lous sight  there  was  a  burst  of  admiration  !  Tom 
blew  at  his  pipes  and  hammered  at  his  drum  with 
the  utmost  energy.  Two  well-dressed  young  dogs, 
who  had  been  paying  particular  attention  to  a  tall 
young  lady  with  a  long  sentimental  nose,  over 
which  a  veil  dropped  gracefully  (she  was  evidently 
one  of  the  aristocratic  greyhound  family),  gaped 
with  wonder  as  they  stared  at  the  whirling  pewter; 
the  young  lady  herself  looked  on  with  a  gaze  where 
surprise  and  admiration  were  singularly  mingled; 
and  the  curs,  who  are  less  accustomed  to  restrain 
their  feelings,  gave  vent  to  them  in  vigorous  howls. 
The  success  was,  indeed,  complete  ;  and  when  Tom 
went  round  with  the  plate,  a  rich  harvest  amply  re- 
paid the  pains  which  had  been  bestowed  on  the  re- 
hearsals. 


PROSPERITY. 


rTERR  SCHWEIISr,  that  very  learned  pig,  who 
-^  -^  had  stationed  himself  in  an  unobserved  corner 
of  the  throng,  in  order  that  he  might  witness  the  be- 
haviour of  his  pupil,  was  delighted,  though  not 
astonished,  at  his  success,  and  gave  vent  to  his 
feelings  in  as  marked  a  manner  as  a  philosopher 
and  an  animal  of  his  peculiar  temperament  could 
be  expected  to  betray.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to 
8* 


66  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

beg  Bruin  to  embrace  him — an  experiment  be  wa.? 
not  likely  to  desire  repeated,  for  that  malicioiia 
beast  gave  him  so  severe  a  squeeze,  as  to  cause  him 
an  indigestion  for  several  days  after.  Piggy's  cal- 
culations, and  the  joy  which  he  built  on  them, 
would  not  have  been  of  so  solid  a  kind,  if  he  had 
known  a  little  more  of  Bruin's  disposition ;  but, 
though  an  animal  of  experience  and  knowledge  of 
the  world,  he  was  in  this  case  too  blinded  by  hia 
pride  to  form  his  usually  correct  judgment.  He 
only  considered  what  the  bear  owed  to  him  in  the 
way  of  gratitude  for  clothing,  feeding,  and  civilising; 
lie  grunted  with  satisfaction  as  he  revolved  in  his 
thoughts  the  goodly  treasure  which  Bruin  might 
be  the  means  of  bis  acquiring;  for,  philosopher  and 
animal  of  the  world  as  he  was,  he  had  not  been 
able  to  divest  himself  of  two  grand  vices, — gluttony 
and  avarice.  The  former  belonged  to  his  tribe,  the 
latter  to  himself;  and  though  at  first  sight  the}' 
would  seem  in  contradiction  with  each  other,  he 
managed  somehow  to  permit,  in  his  own  proper 
person,  that  both  should  have  equal  sway ;  and  the 
older  he  grew,  the  larger  and  firmer-rooted  did 
these  two  passions  become.  He  was  getting  also 
Bo  unwieldy,  that  indolence  was,  to  a  certain  extent, 
forced  upon  him ;  and  this  was  another  powerful 
consideration  which  induced  him  to  look  on  the 
accession  of  Bruin  as  a  real  benefit. 

Unhappy,  however,  the  lot  of  that  animal  who 
should  repose  any  degre.e  of  confidence  in  good  to 
be  derived  from  such  a  temper  and  disposition  I 
As  day  by  day  developed  sonae  new  feature  which 


Prosperity.  67 

helped  to  betray  a  character  singularly  ananiiable 
and  unattractive,  so  day  by  day  did  Ilerr  Schwein^s 
habitation  resound  with  growls  and  grunts  of  anger, 
where  formerly  reigned  the completest  calm.  Bruin's 
performances  also  lacking  novelty,  began  to  pall 
upon  the  public  taste;  and  though  Tom  trudged 
about  with  his  placards  more  vigorously  than  ever, 
and  wore  the  soles  of  his  poor  paws  thin  with  the 
exercise,  the  novelty  was  dying  out,  and  the  fashion- 
able puppies  began  to  be  witty  in  their  whispered 
remarks  upon  the  person  of  the  bearer.  The  bear 
had  got  a  great  deal  too  lazy  to  learn  any  fresh  ex- 
ploits; and  the  pig,  indeed,  was  almost  too  mucli 
out  of  spirits  to  teach  them.  Besides  this,  Bruin 
had  acquired  habits  of  rather  an  expensive  kind,  to 
indulge  which  required  a  good  deal  of  money ;  and, 
as  Herr  Schwein  suspected  that  his  due  half  of  the 
now  diminished  receipts  was  withheld  from  him, 
quarrels  not  unnaturally  ensued. 

These  various  annoyances  produced  a  great 
change  in  poor  Piggy,  who,  perhaps,  felt  more 
deeply  the  overthrow  of  his  pet  projects,  than  the 
actual  loss  his  bargain  had  entailed  on  him  ;  though 
the  loss  itself  was  not  triflins^,  for  Bruin's  enormous 
appetite,  which  he  indulged  to  a  frightful  extent, 
went  considerably  beyond  the  income  that  hia 
diminished  exertions  produced,  and  there  was  a 
chance,  as  matters  stood,  that  this  resource  would 
soon  fail  altogether.  It  is  not  surprising,  then,  if 
the  Herr  should  contemplate  breaking  off  his  en- 
gagement, and  terminating  at  once  the  difficulties 
which  seemed  to  threaten  him,  by  turning  the  great 


68  Adventures  of  a.  Bear. 

bear  adrift  upon  the  world.  But  a  stronger  power 
than  a  pig's  was  about  to  settle  the  question,  k 
power  to  which  all  animals  are  equally  amenable; 
and  thus  was  it  brought  into  action. 

It  was  evening;  Bruin  and  Tom,  the  former  in 
excessively  ill-humour,  the  latter  much  as  usual, 
though  sulky,  returned  home,  where  the  Herr 
awaited  them  with  impatience.  It  did  not  require 
a  very  great  amount  of  sagacity  to  learn  that  they 
had  been  unsuccessful,  for  disappointment  waa 
plainly  visible  on  the  features  of  both.  From 
Bruin  nothino;  could  be  obtained  in  the  way  of 
information,  for  he  had  thrown  himself  on  the 
ground,  and  stuffed  his  wide  jaws  with  some  deli- 
cacies Piggy  had  reserved  for  his  own  supper,  so  it 
was  to  Tom  his  master's  eyes  were  directed  for  an 
explanation.  Now  that  valuable  servant's  fort^ 
never  lay  in  making  an  eloquent  discourse,  or  even 
in  describing  the  most  ordinary  facts  in  a  plain  and 
intelligible  manner;  and  in  this  instance,  as  his 
feelings  interfered  with  the  relation  of  facts,  a  tol- 
erably large  stock  of  patience,  and  some  cleverness 
to  boot,  were  needed  to  understand  the  account. 

This  was,  after  cross-examination,  what  Herr 
Schwein  managed  to  comprehend.  They  had  gone 
to  the  market-place  as  usual,  and,  to  their  delight, 
found  it  crowded,  immediately  jumping  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  public  mind  of  Caneville  was 
not  so  utterly  degraded  as  they  had  begun  to  fancy 
it.  The  innocent  conjecture  was  soon,  however, 
disabused;  for  on  their  drawing  nearer  they  ob- 
served that  faithless  population  gathered  about 


Prospekitv.  69 

"Another  Distinguished  Foreigner,"  with  a 
remarkably  ^ong  beari  and  a  fierce  pair  of  horns, 
who  proclaimed  himself  a  magician  from  beyond 
the  land  where  the  sun  rose,  and  rejoiced  in  the 
name  of  Doctor  Capricorn  us,  A.Y.G.T.,  and  M.U. 
H.S.,  which  the  great  learning  of  Herr  Schwein 
interpreted  by  A  Very  Great  Traveller,  or  Thief, 
and  Member  of  the  Universal  Herbage  or  Humbug 
Society.  Now,  the  feats  displayed  by  this  new 
candidate  for  public  favour,  were  of  the  stupidest 
order  (remember,  this  is  not  the  statement  of  a 
disinterested  part}^),  consisting  merely  in  pointing 
out  any  pebble  on  the  ground  that  any  one  of  the 
crowd  should  have  previously  fixed  on,  and  mount- 
ing to  the  top  of  a  little  ladder  and  balancing  him- 
self on  the  tips  of  his  horns  at  the  upper  round ; 
yet  it  was  enough  to  excite  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
lookers-on :  nor  could  all  the  cries  of  Bruin,  bid- 
ding them  come  and  see  what  true  genius  really 
was;  nor  all  the  dulcet  notes  of  Tom,  though  he 
blew  at  his  pipes  till  he  was  black  in  the  face,  and 
thrashed  his  drum  till  he  beat  in  its  crown,  pro- 
cure them  a  single  spectator.  Thoroughly  dis- 
gusted, they  quitted  the  spot  and  returned  home, 
Bruin  getting  into  a  dispute  with  one  of  the  City 
police  by  the  way  for  comporting  himself  bearishly 
towards  a  richly-dressed  and  genteel-looking  cat, 
who  was  quietly  serenading  his  mistress,  seated  at 
a  balcony. 

As  Tom  finished  his  relation,  a  slight  squeaK: 
issued  from  the  pig's  throat,  but  from  its  profound- 
est  depths,  as  if  it  came  from  the  bottom  of  bii 


70  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

heart.  Once  or  twice,  indeed,  he  turned  his  snout 
to  the  place  where  the  bear,  who  had  finished  his 
employer's  supper,  lay  at  his  full  length  asleep,  aa 
though  he  intended  to  arouse  hirn ;  but  his  philoso- 
phy or  his  physical  weakness  made  him  change 
his  resolution,  and,  making  a  motion  to  Tom  to 
lend  him  some  assistance,  he  tottered  off  with  dif- 
ficulty to  bed,  where  he  cast  himself  down  as  if  he 
were  tired  of  the  world  and  its  struggles.  At  least 
his  manner  so  far  affected  Tom  that  he  could  not 
prevail  on  himself  to  quit  his  master's  side ;  but 
after  watching  him  with  interest  for  a  full  hour, 
and  observing  him  in  a  deep  sleep,  he  stretched 
his  body  upon  some  clean  straw,  instead  of  seeking 
his  own  crib,  and  was  soon  likewise  in  a  state  of 
forgetfulness. 

It  must  have  been  about  midnight  that  Tom  was 
aroused  by  a  suppressed  grunting ;  he  started  up, 
and,  by  the  aid  of  the  moon,  beheld  Herr  Schwein 
lying  on  his  back,  and  convulsively  kicking  hi3 
legs  in  the  air.  He  ran  to  his  head  and  tried  to 
raise  him  up,  but  his  weight  was  more  than  he 
could  manage,  so  he  called  out  in  his  loudest  voice 
for  the  assistance  of  Bruin.  That  ungracious  beast, 
however,  though  waked  by  the  noise,  felt  no  incliii- 
ation  to  have  his  repose  disturbed  ;  so  bid  him  hold 
his  peace,  and  let  honest  folks  go  to  sleep.  Tom 
was  a  thoroughly  faithful  creature  at  heart,  though 
a  rough  and  untutored  one.  The  want  of  feeling 
displayed  by  the  bear,  and  his  ingratitude  in  thus 
allowing  his  master  to  struggle  without  even  lend- 
ing him  a  paw,  aroused  all  the  indignation  of  hia 


PROSPERTTV.  71 

honest  nature;  so,  flying  at  Master  Bruin,  ho 
caught  hold  of  the  tip  of  his  ear  and  bit  it  till  the 
great  beast  roared  with  pain,  and,  effectually  roused, 
followed  his  adversary  about  the  place  iii  order  to 
punish  him  for  his  insolence.  In  his  awkward 
evolutions  he  caught  one  of  his  legs  in  a  heap  of 
straw,  and  fell  full  sprawl  over  poor  Herr  Schwein. 
A  small  grunt,  like  a  sigh  with  a  bad  cold,  escaped 
the  learned  Pig:  it  was  his  last!  for,  when  Bruin 
raised  himself  up,  he  found  his  late  employer  per- 
fectly motionless ;  nor  did  all  his  efforts,  such  as 
pulling  his  snout,  and  shaking  his  trotters,  and 
twisting  his  tail,  succeed  in  producing  the  slightest 
impression.  The  bear  was  puzzled.  He  squatted 
down  beside  his  old  master,  and,  sucking  his  right 
paw,  whilst  he  s'cratched  his  pate  with  his  left, 
gazed  long  at  the  prostrate  body.  Meanwhile  Tom 
drew  nigh,  and  guessing  at  the  truth  from  his  com- 
panion's attitude  and  the  pig's  breathless  quiet, 
raised  his  nose  to  the  roof  of  the  dwelling  and 
uttered  a  long  and  dismal  howl  of  sorrow.  Again 
and  again,  at  brief  intervals,  did  the  faithful  ser- 
vant thus  deplore  his  master's  fate,  till  Bruin,  an- 
gered by  the  noise,  threw  the  broken  drum  at  the 
unconscious  mourner,  with  such  effect,  indeed,  that 
the  shattered  extremity  alighted  on  his  crown,  and 
for  the  time  completely  buried  him,  his  voice  sound- 
ing singularly  sepulchral  from  the  depths  of  the  hol- 
low instrument.  It  effectually  stopped  the  cur- 
rent of  his  grief  by  creating  a  flood  of  irritation, 
which  only  respect  for  the  dead  prevented  his 
giving  vent  to,  for  he  would  otherwise  have  littlo 


72  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

heeded  either  the  strength  or  ferocity  of  his  antag* 
onist. 

Bruin,  who  had  betrayed  no  feeling  of  any  kind 
at  the  sight  of  his  late  benefactor  tb«us  converted 
into  pork,  now  returned  to  his  own  bed,  and  was 
soon  again  in  a  comfortable  snore ;  but  the  foithful 
Tom  still  sat  by  the  body  of  his  master,  and  pa- 
tiently watched  there  till  daylight 

The  sun  rose,  and  many  neighbours,  apprised  of 
the  event,  made  their  appearance ;  some  urged  by 
curiosity  to  see  how  a  dead  pig  looked,  some  stim- 
ulated by  avarice,  hoping  there  might  be  a  trifle 
or  two  to  pick  up,  and  a  few  from  a  higher  motive 
— the  wish,  namel}^,  to  show  respect  for  the  memory 
of  the  deceased,  by  assisting,  if  necessary,  his  sur- 
vivors. Herr  Schwein,  however,  had  come  amongst 
them  alone,  nor  was  it  thought  that  he  had  kith  or 
kin ;  for  no  mention  of  any  amiable  frau^  or  sow, 
no  syllable  of  any  interesting  piglet,  had  ever  issued 
from  his  learned  jaws.  He  died  as  he  had  lived, 
among  strangers;  and,  alas!  all  the  learning  he 
had  acquired  was  destined  to  perish  with  him:  for, 
with  one  exception,  Herr  Schwein  had  never  com- 
mitted any  of  his  thoughts  or  experiences  to  writ- 
ing. I  have  &iid,  with  one  exception ;  for  the  occa- 
sion is  worth  noting,  as  it  was  on  a  matter  interest- 
ing, indeed,  to  every  epicure  in  the  universe.  The 
subject  which  then  engaged  his  pen  bore  the  fol- 
lowing title: — ''''Signs  hy  wliich  the  most  unobsei-vant 
may  detect  in  the  soils  of  the  world  the  existence  of 
Truffles  ;  together  with  an  Essay  on  the  most  effectual 
mode  of  cultivating  them.^^  And  it  may  well  be  con' 


Prosperity.  75 

jectured,  from  the  great  learning  and  fitness  of  the 
writer  to  deal  with  such  a  subject,  how  much  new 
light  must  have  been  tlirown  upon  it.  Unfortu- 
nately for  the  tribes  of  gourmands,  and  poor  Piggy's 
fame,  this  valuable  paper  was  never  destined  to 
electrify  the  world;  for,  cast  into  the  street  by 
P-rdn  among  other  articles,  considered,  alas!  of  no 
value,  it  was  picked  up  by  some  ignorant  puppy  pass- 
ing by,  who,  seeing  it  written  in  German  character, 
and  not  understanding  a  w^ord  of  it,  tore  up  the 
]>riceless  document  to  make  lights  for  his  cigars. 

Two  mastiffs,  wlio  had  been  informed  of  the 
death,  kept  watch  meanwhile  without  the  house ; 
and  when  night  again  came  on  they  were  joined 
by  a  couple  of  ugly  curs,  whose  business  it  was  to 
convey  the  body  to  its  last  resting-place  without 
the  city ;  for  the  dogs,  with  great  good  sense,  had 
au  intense  dislike  to  bury  the  dead  among  the  liv- 
ing. The  mortal  remains  of  Herr  Schwein  being 
placed  upon  a  kind  of  sledge,  were  drawn  slowly 
down  to  the  little  lake,  followed  by  Tom,  as  chief 
and  only  mourner,  for  Bruin  was  so  devoid  of  feel- 
ing as  to  refuse  even  this  last  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  one  who  had  been  his  best  friend ;  and  when  the 
funeral  procession  reached  the  water,  the  body  was 
gently  let  down  mto  the  current,  which  bore  it 
gradually  away.  Poor  Tom  sent  after  it  a  pro- 
longed and  melancholy  howl,  the  last  sad  adieu  of 
a  simple  but  faithful  heart;  and  then  turning  his 
Bteps,  which  were  mechanically  leading  him  to- 
wards his  late  home,  in  quite  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, he  set  off  upon  a  lonely  pilgrimage,  resolv- 
9 


74  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

ing  in  his  own  mind  that  many  a  scene  should  be 
traversed  ere  he  again  gazed  on  his  native  city  of 
Caneville. 

Meanwhile  Bruin,  who  felt  not  the  least  alarm 
at  Tom's  continued  absence,  found  himself  sudden- 
ly in  a  position  of  the  highest  pi'osperity.  As  no 
one  was  there  to  claim  the  property  of  the  deceased, 
he  took  possession  of  it  as  his  right.  Every  corner 
was  ransacked,  every  hiding-plarce  examined,  and 
a  large  store  of  costumes,  and  things  of  every  kind, 
gathered  in  the  course  of  the  late  Herr's  wander- 
ings in  different  lands,  were  dragged  from  their 
obscurity. 

His  present  habitation  did  not,  however,  suit  his 
change  of  fortune:  he  must  have  a  house  in  the 
most  fashionable  quarter  of  the  town.  When  this 
was  obtained,  not  satisfied  with  the  simple  name 
his  fathers  had  honestly  borne  for  so  many  gene- 
rations, he  resolved  to  dub  himself  a  nobleman, 
which  he  could  the  more  easily  do  in  a  place  where 
his  connexions  were  unknown,  so  styled  himself 
Count  von  Bruin  forthwith.  The  wardrobe  of  his 
late  learned  employer  furnished  him  with  a  suit  of 
astonishingly  fine  clothes,  which  fitted  him  to  a 
nicety ;  so  on  every  fine  morning,  dressed  therein, 
with  hat  cocked  upon  his  crown,  his  paws  grasping 
a  cane  and  placed  under  his  coat-tails,  so  as  to  show 
off  all  the  glory  of  his  waistcoat,  frill,  and  splendid 
jewellery,  he  marched  into  the  streets.  He  made 
BO  imposing  a  figure  in  his  new  dress,  and  assumed 
such  an  air  of  pomposity,  that  it  was  no  wonder 
the  uninitiated  should  have  been  deceived,  and 


Reverses.  75 

have  taken  him  for  a  lion  of  the  very  first  nobility; 
nor  can  we  be  surprised  that  a  poor  cur,  almost  in 
a  state  of  nudity,  should,  in  the  most  abject  man- 
ner, supplicate  a  trifle  from  "His  Lordship;"  that 
an  ignorant  cat,  in  passing,  should  take  off  his  cap 
and  make  a  profound  bow;  or  a  kitten,  just  be- 
hind, cross  its  paws  as  though  it  stood  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  superior.  There  was  one,  however,  who 
penetrated  through  all  his  disguise ;  one  who  had 
watched  him  with  interest  when  he  made  his  debut 
in  the  public  square  and  drew  down  such  abun- 
dant admiration,  and  who,  by  some  feeling  for 
which  she  could  not  account,  had  followed  his 
varying  fortunes  till  she  saw  him  thus  rich,  su- 
perbly dressed,  and  strutting  down  the  street,  as 
though  Caneville  were  too  small  to  hold  him, — 
and  that  one  was  the  Hon.  Miss  Greyhound. 


REVERSES. 


SOLITAEY  as  were  Bruin's  habits  by  nature,  he 
had  felt,  since  his  residence  in  a  town,  a  change 
Btealing  gradually  over  him,  and  the  necessity  of 
companionship  l^ecoming  every  day  more  sensibly 
experienced.  In  his  late  position,  he  had  had  the 
constant  companionship  of  Tom  and  the  learned 
society  of  his  master,  which,  indeed,  he  ^as  but 
little  capable  of  appreciating,  besides  the  acquaint- 
ance of  some  inferior  animab  whom  he  had  man- 


76  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

aged  to  fall  in  with  during  bis  idle  hours ;  thongb 
that  these  must  have  been  of  the  very  lowest  class, 
the  reader,  who  is  aware  of  the  character  of  that 
great  beast,  will  readily  suppose.  Tom  was,  how- 
ever, now  gone ;  poor  Schwein,  too,  had  departed  ; 
and  Bruin's  fine  clothes  and  altered  condition  en- 
tirely precluded  at  present  a  return  to  his  former 
associates.  Society,  he  felt,  he  must  have,  and 
upon  his  choice  now  depended  his  future  fortunes. 
It  was  whilst  this  necessity  was  pressing  on  his 
brain  that  one  morning,  when  lolling  in  all  the  in- 
dolence of  ignorance  allied  to  wealth,  he  was  sur- 
prised at  the  appearance  of  a  diminutive  spaniel, 
admitted  by  his  porter,  who,  dressed  in  a  rich  scar- 
let livery,  bore  a  letter  in  his  belt,  which  he  pre- 
sented with  a  certain  fawning  grace  to  our  hero, 
and  hastily  departed.  This  was  the  first  epistle 
that  worthy  had  ever  held  in  his  own  paws,  so  it 
may  well  be  judged  he  was  but  little  prepared  to 
investigate  its  contents.  He  turned  it  over  and 
over,  and  then  put  it  to  his  nose,  for  the  scent 
which  it  emitted  was  pleasant  to  his  sense  of  smell ; 
but  still  this  gave  him  no  hint  at  its  meaning. 
Kever  before  had  he  felt  the  annoyance  which  a 
want  of  education  inevitably  causes  ;  but  now  that 
it  did  strike  him,  instead  of  arousing  his  energies 
to  cure  so  serious  a  defect, — a  cure,  too,  which  he 
could  under  present  circumstances  so  easily  accona' 
plish, — it  only  moved  his  anger  to  think  that  the 
little  scrap  of  paper  which  he  held  in  his  paw,  and 
which  he  could  without  the  slightest  effort  crush 
into  nothingness,  withheld  its  secrets  from  him. 


Reverses.  77 

whilst  every  mincing  puppy  in  the  streets  could 
command  its  every  word.  Ah,  Master  Bruin  I 
^raster  Bruin !  3^ou  are  not  the  first  to  make  the 
discovery  that  knowledge  is  superior  to  brute  force. 
Angry  or  not,  he  wished  to  know  the  meaning  of 
the  note ;  and  summoning  to  his  presence  one  who 
had  managed  to  procure  the  chief  place  in  his 
household,  cunning  Fox  as  he  was,  he  commanded 
^hat  worthy  to  read  its  contents  aloud.  Fox 
obeyed,  not  at  all  displeased  that  he  should  be  se- 
lected for  this  duty,  as  he  foresaw,  from  the  so- 
called  Count's  ignorance,  that  he  would  be  able  at 
a  future  period  to  turn  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
his  master's  secrets  to  good  account.  He,  there- 
fore, read  as  follows  : — 

"  You  may  believe  I  must  he  actuated  hy  a  strong 
feeling  in  your  favour^  when  I  thus  forget  wTiat  is 
due  to  my  sex  and  rank^  and  overcome  all  the  preju- 
dices which  canine  society  builds  up  as  a  harrier  to  in- 
tercourse  with  foreigners.  I  confess  it ;  the  feeling  is 
a  strong  one:  hut  I  rely  on  your  honour  to  save  me 
from  the  ill  effects  my  imprudence  might  otherwise  lay 
me  open  to.  If  you  are  willing  to  know  farther^  and 
are  the  animal  I  take  you  for ^  you  will  be  in  waiting 
to-morrow  evening  after  sunset^  at  the  extremity  cf  the 
mews  in  the  cafs  quarter  of  the  city^ 

This   missive,    written    in   bold    but    feminine 

characters,  was  without  a   signature;    and   wlien 

Fox  had  retired,   with  a  cunning  leer  upon  hia 

sharp  features,  and  Bruin  was  left  alone  to  medi- 

9* 


78  Advintures  of  a  Bear. 

tate  upon  the  singularity  of  the  adventure,  that 
great  beast  lost  himself  in  conjectures  as  to  the 
writer,  and  figured  to  his  imagination  a  creature 
very  different,  no  doubt,  to  the  being  actually  in 
question.  His  impatience,  however,  to  get  over 
the  interval  of  time  which  must  elapse  ere  his  curi- 
osity could  be  gratified,  was  sensibly  felt  by  every 
inmate  of  the  mansion.  Nothing  seemed  to  go 
right ;  the  soup  was  tasteless,  the  viands  were  over- 
done, and  the  vegetables  raw.  Never  was  there  so 
fastidious  a  bear ;  the  cook  more  than  once  con- 
templated some  rash  act ;  the  poor  little  turnspits 
crept  into  corners  with  their  tails  between  their 
legs,  fully  expecting  to  be  sacrificed  in  some  mo- 
ment of  wrath ;  whilst  the  various  house-servants, 
pussies  of  doubtful  reputation,  seemed  to  creep 
about  the  place  as  though  they  were  every  moment 
in  dread  of  being  accused  of  purloining  certain 
savoury  made-dishes,  reserved  especially  for  cook's 
private  friends.  Fox,  too,  the  steward  and  facto- 
tum of  the  establishment,  appeared  not  to  possess 
his  usual  sleek  and  quiet  ease,  but,  as  the  evening 
drew  near,  got  restless  and  fidgetty,  though  he 
tried  to  be  calm,  and  even  more  jocose  than  usual. 
He  had  been  absent  half  the  morning,  no  one 
knew  for  what  purpose ;  not  that  he  ever  conde- 
scended to  divulge  the  causes  of  his  movements, 
but  there  was  a  slyer  look  in  his  eyes,  and  a 
sharper  appearance  about  his  clever,  pointed  nose, 
than  ordinarily  animated  those  features. 

The  hour  drew  nigh.     The  sun  was  going  down 
w  hen  the  Count  von  Bruin,  most  superbly  dressed, 


Reverbes.  To 

sallied  forth  from  his  dwelling.  His  demeanour 
was  observed  and  criticised  by  every  domestic  in 
his  household,  who,  crowding  to  the  windows, 
watched  that  great  bear  go  forth, — as  he  fancied,  to 
conquer.  Fox  allowed  him  to  turn  the  corner; 
then,  enveloped  in  a  cloak  which  completely  hid  his 
ligur*^  he  let  himself  out  and  glided  after  his 
mastei. 

Bruin,  meanwhile,  strutted  on  till  he  reached  the 
quarter  of  the  city  inhabited  by  the  descendants  of 
the  feline  race ;  and  as  he  had  never  before  been 
in  that  part  of  the  town,  he  was  at  first  utterly  con- 
founded by  the  discordant  cries.  Instead,  too,  of 
the  order  prevailing  in  the  canine  portions,  the  in- 
habitants seemed  to  take  delight  in  the  wildest 
gymnastic  demonstrations,  and  certainly  seemed  to 
prefer  the  house-tops  to  any  other  lounging- place. 
Kittens,  in  horrible  abundance,  were  frisking  about 
in  every  direction,  and  the  scene  was  altogether  of 
a  character  which  seemed  to  justify  the  wisdom  of 
the  magnates  of  Caneville  in  obliging  this  singular 
people  to  dwell  in  a  distinct  part  of  the  town ;  a 
rule  which,  with  a  few  exceptions,  was  strictly  car- 
ried out. 

On  reaching  the  mews,  a  place  so  called  at  the 
outskirts  of  the  city  in  this  direction,  and  sufficiently 
removed  from  the  noiby  streets  as  to  make  the  spot 
a  very  solitary  one,  Bruin  perceived  he  was  alone 
at  the  rendezvous ;  so,  to  while  away  the  time,  he 
strutted  to  and  fro,  and  meditated,  in  his  usual 
style,  on  his  own.  self-importance.  He  was  aroused 
from  his  reverie  by  a  slight  bark,  or  cough ;  and 


80  Adventures  op  a  Bear. 

raising  his  head,  he  perceived  in  the  dim  light  a 
tall  and  graceful  figure  deeply  veiled. 

He  hastily  advanced,  his  rough  nature  for  the 
first  time  touched  at  this  proof  of  confidence,  and 
his  vanity  suddenly  rising  to  a  dangerous  height, 
and  taking  the  delicate  white  paw,  which  drooped 
gracefully  from  a  mantle,  within  his  own,  he  un- 
closed his  jaws  to  make  some  tender  speech.  But 
before  he  had  time  to  commit  himself  by  his  igno- 
rance, the  young  lady  uttered  an  aristocratic  squeak, 
and  darted  away  with  the  utmost  swiftness,  and 
Bruin  at  the  same  instant  found  himself  seized  by 
a  str(.>ng  grip  from  behind.  He  turned  round  with 
a  violence  which  threw  his  assailant  a  dozen  paces 
off,  into  a  pool  of  stagnant  water,  his  own  coat  being 
slit  right  up  the  back  by  the  movement;  but  he 
was  at  once  attacked  by  half-a-dozen  others,  who 
seemed  bent  on  his  destruction.  Bruin's  great 
strength,  however,  served  him  in  good  stead ;  with 
his  back  against  an  old  wall,  he  received  the  as- 
saults of  his  adversaries  with  all  his  wonted  ferocity : 
so  that  after  ten  minutes'  fighting  they  drew  off, 
leaving  two  of  their  number  motionless  on  the 
ground,  and  a  third  struggling  in  vain  to  escape 
from  the  unsavoury  hole  where  the  whisk  of  Bruin's 
coat-tails  had  cast  him.  To  this  spot  Bruin  now 
proceeded :  and  sitting  himself  down  on  the  edge, 
told  the  struggling  dog  he  would  help  him  out  if 
he  would  divulge  the  meaning  of  this  unexpected 
attack  on  him.  The  half-drowned  cur,  having 
supplicated  the  bear  in  vain  to  let  him  out  before 
he  commenced  his  narration,  in  accents  sadly  inter 


Reversbb.  8j 

rnpted  by  his  tliroat  getting  at  intervals  choked 
with  dirty  water,  explained  that  himself  and  the 
e:.thers  of  his  assailants  were  the  attendants  of  one 
of  the  most  noble  families  in  Caneville;  and  tbat 
their  master,  learning  from  some  member  of  Count 
von  Bruin's  household  that  he  (the  Count)  intended 
meeting  the  eldest  daughter  at  this  spot  to-night, 
had  commanded  a  body  of  his  servitors  to  be  in 
readiness  to  fall  upon  him,  and  if  possible  take  him 
prisoner,  for  presuming  to  raise  or  lower  his  eyes 
to  a  damsel  of  such  standing. 

Scarcely  had  Bruin  heard  this  communication  to 
an  end,  than,  despite  his  promise  and  the  poor  dog's 
cries,  he  caught  up  a  huge  clod  of  earth  and  dropped 
it  upon  the  devoted  head  of  the  struggling  animal 
beneath.  There  was  a  great  splash ;  a  bubble  or 
two  came  to  the  surface  of  the  horrid  pool,  and  the 
brutal  deed  was  consummated.  Yet  at  the  same 
moment  Bruin  regretted  he  had  been  so  precipitate, 
for  he  had  not  learnt  which  member  of  his  house- 
hold had  played  the  spy.  As  he  slowly  left  the 
place,  he  revolved  this  subject  in  his  mind,  but 
could  come  to  no  satisfactory  conclusion ;  for 
though  Fox  appeared  the  most  likely  to  be  guilty, 
that  worthy  animal  had  made  himself  so  useful  to 
his  master,  that  he  could  not  well  manage  without 
him.  He  resolved,  nevertheless,  to  wath  him  close- 
ly, and  with  this  prudent  resolve  he  reached  hxS 
own  door. 

Very  different  was  his  appearance  now  to  that 
which  it  presented  on  his  issuing  from  the  mansion. 
His  coat  torn  to  ribbons,  his  hat  without  a  crown, 


82  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

his  majestic  frill  rumpled  and  bloody,  and  his 
waistcoat  without  a  single  button  left  wherewitli  to 
restrain  the  exuberance  of  his  linen.  All  his  do- 
mestics were  eager  in  their  inquiries  and  offers  of 
service ;  and  Fox  was  so  overpowering  in  his  ex- 
pressions of  regret,  that  all  suspicion  vanished  from 
Bruin's  brain  at  once;  and  he  attributed  his  in- 
formant's tale  to  some  malicious  calumny,  invented 
to  save  his  life  and  conceal  the  true  cause  of  the 
attack  upon  him. 

Our  hero,  finding  that  the  paths  of  gallantry  were 
filled  with  so  much  unpleasantness,  resolved,  like 
a  prudent  animal,  to  avoid  them  carefully  in  future ; 
but  as  his  desire  for  an  introduction  to  society  con- 
tinued, he  availed  himself  of  the  offer  of  his  stew- 
ard, who  promised  to  procure  him  introductions  to 
youth  of  the  best  families.  The  class  with  which 
Fox  managed  to  bring  him  into  connexion  was  the 
most  worthless  in  Caneville,  consisting  of  fast 
young  dogs,  who  had  a  singular  knack  of  reversing 
the  order  of  nature,  and  going  to  bed  when  other 
animals  were  getting  up,  and  thinking  of  rising 
when  the  discreet  part  of  the  world  deemed  it  time 
to  retire  to  rest.  They  had  formed  themselves  into 
a  sort  of  club,  which  they  called  the  "Hard  and 
Fast;"  and,  indeed,  no  terms  could  better  express 
the  habits  of  the  members ;  for  they  gamed  hard, 
drank  hard,  and  talked  hard,  and  lived  so  uncom- 
monly/as^, that  it  was  not  surprising  that,  though 
quite  young,  they  should  have  many  of  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age.  To  these  worthies  Bruin  was  an  ac- 
quisition ;  for  he  was  rich,  ignorant,  and  gulliblej 


ItLVERSES. 


S3 


whilst  the  J  were  poor,  grasping  and  unscrupukus. 
At  the  very  first  interview,  all  parties  were  equally 
delighted  with  each  other;  the  ease  of  his  new 
companion's  manners  was  perfectly  charming  to 
Bruin,  who  considered  it  as  a  proof  of  their 
breeding,  and  every  following  day  strengthened  the 
connexion.  Kiotous  parties  of  pleasure  were  con- 
stantly projected,  for  which  their  friend  Yon  Bruin 
paid ;  banquets  of  the  most  expensive  kind  were 
always  spread  upon  his  table,  at  which  his  "dear 
fellows  of  the  club"  assisted — themselves  ;  and,  in- 
deed, so  closely  were  the  bonds  of  union  drawn, 
that  after  some  time  many  of  them  could  not  bear 
to  separate  from  their  esteemed  Count ;  and,  there- 
fore, took  up  their  residence  with  him  altogether. 

If  disorder  were  running  such  a  race  in  company 
with  the  chief  of  the  establishment,  it  may  be  con- 
jectured that  but  little  prudence  or  economy  was 
displayed  by  the  domestics.  Extravagance  of 
every  kind  ran  riot  amongst  them  as  wildly  as 
with  their  master,  and  they  scrupled  not  at  all  sorts 
of  petty  pilfering,  where  there  were  none  to  cen- 
sure or  restrain.  Fox,  it  is  true,  had  the  right, 
and  possessed  the  influence  requisite  to  do  so ;  but, 
for  some  evil  design  of  his  own,  possibly  that  his 
private  pecadilloes  might  escape  unnoticed,  he 
seemed  tacitly  to  submit  to  such  a  state  of  things, 
and  in  some  instances  actually  encouraged  it.  And 
what  could  be  the  only  result  of  such  a  life  of  dis- 
sipation, unchecked  by  a  single  effort  of  discretion  ? 
Why,  nothing  but  the  most  irretrievable  ruin ;  and 
ruined  the  bear  was  after  three  months'  trial.    And 


84  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

when,  following  a  banquet  of  several  clays'  dura- 
tion, the  clouded  intellects  of  the  beast  were  made 
sensible  of  the  fact;  when  he  found  his  table 
cleared  for  the  last  time  both  of  servants  and 
guests;  when  he  traversed  the  various  apartments 
of  his  mansion,  and  observed  all  stripped,  destroyed, 
and  echoing  only  to  the  sounds  of  his  own  foot- 
steps; when,  in  fine,  he  discovered  that  he  waa 
again  alone  in  the  world,  without  any  portion  of 
that  wealth  which  he  had  so  sadly  abused,  and 
with  many  new  and  vicious  tastes  which  he  had  no 
longer  the  means  to  gratify;  bitter,  indeed,  were 
his  lamentations,  shocking  his  fits  of  anger.  These 
over,  and  they  lasted  long,  long  days,  he  seriously 
examined  the  state  of  his  affairs.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  clothes  upon  his  back,  and  a  little  change 
in  his  pocket,  he  possessed  absolutely  nothing,  so 
effectually  had  his  kind  friends  and  faithful  ser- 
vants stripped  him  of  his  means :  it  was,  therefore, 
with  no  enviable  feelings  he  left  the  house,  his 
house  no  longer,  to  seek  a  shelter  for  his  head,  and 
a  crust  to  appease  his  hunger. 

He  carefully  avoided  all  his  former  resorts,  and 
directed  his  steps  to  those  parts  of  the  town  where 
poverty  and  vice  were  accustomed  to  assemble, 
strong  in  their  numbers  and  their  misery.  Among 
them  he  now  strove  to  bury  his  griefs  and  acquire 
consolation ;  bat,  alas,  it  was  at  the  cost  of  every 
hope  of  virtue  which  might  yet  lurk  in  his  natural 
Characters  like  Bruin's,  that  are  ever  more  apt  to 
imitate  the  evil  than  the  good  which  is  around 
Jiem  can  only  acquire  some  fresh  stain  from  every 


Reverse's.  85 

csontact  with  the  wicked;  and  thus  our  bear  sunk 
lower  and  lower  in  the  scale  of  beasts,  till  many 
even  of  his  new  associates  at  last  shrunk  from  him. 
Some  months  after  Bruin's  being  turned  out  of 
his  splendid  home  tli^ve  was  a  great  fair  held,  just 
without  the  town  of  Caneville ;  and,  as  is  usual  ia 
such  cases,  the  lowest  orders  of  the  population  as- 
sembled there.  The  Hon.  Miss  Greyhound,  who 
had  been  a  prey  to  feelings  of  a  very  mixed  nature 
since  her  interrupted  interview  with  Bruin,  had 
joined  a  party  of  fashionables  in  an  unusually  long 
walk,  and  on  their  return  to  the  city  by  a  different 
route  they  came  upon  the  fair.  They  stopped  on 
a  rising  ground  at  some  little  distance  to  view  the 
sports ;  then  observing  a  group  with  a  tall  ungainly 
figure  in  the  centre,  a  little  to  the  right,  they  drew 
nearer  to  observe  the  proceedings.  The  great  beast 
\n  tho  centre  had  his  back  to  them,  so  they  could  not 
observe  his  features  ;  but  they  saw  that  his  clothes 
were  ragged,  his  whole  appearance  very  dirtj^,  and 
his  hat  a  particularly  bad  one.  A  dozen  of  heavy 
sticks  were  at  his  feet,  and  a  couple  were  under  his 
arm ;  whilst  at  some  twenty  paces  distant  two 
wands,  with  an  ornament  or  trinket  at  the  top 
of  each,  were  stuck  upright  in  a  straw  bag,  ready 
to  be  thrown  at  by  any  adventurous  puss  or  puppy 
who  had  a  coin  at  his  disposal.  A  couple  of  cats 
were  lovingly  walking  at  some  distance,  another 
was  climbing  a  large  tree  which  overhung  the 
place,  and  a  fourth  was  lazily  seated  high  above ; 
whilst  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  animal  who  was 
presiding  over  the  scene,  were  several  dogs  and  a 
10 


86  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

cat  or  two  waiting  for  their  turn.  The  tall  beast 
now  altered  his  position,  and  the  strongly  marked 
features  of  a  bear  became  plainly  visible  to  the 
party ;  at  the  same  time  he  caught  sight  of  the 
fashionable  group,  and,  with  a  fierce  expression  in 
his  eye,  surlily  invited  the  well-dressed  males  to 
take  their  chance  at  "  Three  throws  a  penny." 

A  gentle  howl  from  Miss  G.  was  the  only  reply 
as  the  party  hastily  retreated;  for  she  recognized  in 
the  dirty,  degraded  beast,  who  was  presiding  over 
this  vulgar  sport,  the  object  she  had  once  looked 
on  with  affection,  the  once  wealthy  Count  von 
Bruin. 


PROGRESS. 


T^HE  fair  of  Caneville  was  like  fairs  in  most  other 
-^  parts  of  the  world,  and  contained  the  usual  ele- 
ments of  fun  and  wickedness,  toys  and  dirt,  sweets 
and  other  messes.  As  all  these  various  ingredients 
looked  best  at  night,  when  the  broad  sun  was 
withdrawn  and  an  artificial  light  very  feebly  sup- 
plied its  place,  it  was  towards  evening  that  the  fair 
began  to  fill,  and  doubtful  characters  to  ply  their 
various  vocations.  It  was  matter  of  remark  that 
there  was  much  more  quarrelling  and  ill-humour 
in  the  fair  this  particular  year,  than  there  had  been 
for  several  previous  periods ;  and  it  was  also  ob- 
served that  a  tall  and  powerful  bear — no  other  than 
our  hero  Bruin — was  ever  in  the  midst  of  it,  either 


Progress.  87 

as  an  instigator  or  a  principal.  Tli  s  circumstance 
made  the  authorities  more  than  usually  alert,  and 
caused  Master  Bruin  to  be  closely  watched. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  the  last  d^y,  after  many 
scenes  of  evil  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe, 
that  a  serious  disturbance  arose  in  the  part  of  the 
lield  where  Bruin  had  his  stand.  Blows  soon  fol- 
lowed angry  words ;  the  contending  parties  flew  at 
each  other  with  great  ferocity ;  growl  followed 
growl,  and  bite  succeeded  bite,  so  that  a  good  deal 
of  blood  was  shed — ill  blood;  so,  perhaps,  better 
out  than  in; — and  as  Bruin's  sticks  were  conveni- 
ently at  hand  as  weapons  of  offence,  they  were 
soon  seized  upon,  and  used  so  indiscriminately,  that 
almost  every  throw  told.  Many  were  stretched  on 
the  ground,  and  one  of  the  mastiff-police  was 
thought  to  be  killed.  This  was  a  serious  offence, 
indeed,  and  those  who  knew  the  penalty  attending 
such  a  calamity  instantly  took  to  flight.  They 
were  as  instantly  pursued ;  and  when  about  to  be 
captured,  with  one  voice  denounced  Bruin  as  the 
culprit;  though,  in  fact,  it  was  not  he  who  had 
struck  the  blow,  and  they  knew  it :  but  such  was 
his  known  ferocity  and  ill- temper,  that  to  shield 
themselves  they  were  ready  to  give  up  the  wrong 
beast,  whom  no  one  loved,  and  whom  every  one 
would  have  suspected  as  the  author  of  the  calamity. 
So  the  bear,  in  spite  of  his  protestations  of  inno- 
cence, and  in  spite  too  of  a  most  furious  resistance, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  got  more  than  one 
savage  bite  from  some  small  animal  he  had  injured, 
he  was  dragged  off  to  prison, 


88  Adventures  of  a  Bear, 

The  place  used  for  this  purpose  was  a  portion  of 
a  ruined  castle,  standing  in  the  cer,tre  of  the  town, 
ou  the  banks  of  the  rivulet  before  spoken  of;  the 
ruin  itself  being  of  great  antiquity,  and  havmg 
been  evidently  erected  by  a  very  different  class  of 
beings  to  that  which  formed  the  present  population 
of  Caneville.  Several  compartments  were  adapt- 
ed for  the  purpose,  all  more  or  less  secure;  but 
the  square  stone  chamber  into  which  Bruin  was 
thrust,  was  the  strongest  of  them  all.  The  door 
opening  outwards  was  closed  on  him,  and  secured 
by  a  heavy  mass  of  rock,  which  the  united  efforts 
of  several  of  the  police  rolled  against  it ;  and  hav- 
ing thus  deposited  the  prisoner  in  safety,  a  couple 
mounted  guard  at  the  entrance,  in  case  by  any 
chance  the  great  strength  of  the  bear  should  suc- 
ceed in  removing  the  fastening.  Bruin  seemed, 
however,  in  no  humour  to  make  the  experiment. 
Sore  and  worn  out,  he  crawled  into  a  corner  and 
was  soon  fast  asleep,  resuming  in  his  dream  some 
of  his  old  avocations.  He  woke  at  daylight,  and 
immediately  rose  to  examine  his  prison.  The  door 
he  sniffed  at,  but  passed  by ;  the  window  was  at 
Bo  great  a  height  from  the  floor  that  he  could  not 
reach  it  iipon  tiptoe,  but  he  remarked  that  a  very 
delicious  puff  of  fresh  air  came  down  an  aperture 
originally  used  as  a  chimney.  He  moved  hastily 
towards  it,  and  many  feet  above  observed  the  blue 
eky,  and  the  large  branch  of  a  tree  waving  over  the 
aperture.  Had  Messieurs  the  Police  been  aware  of 
Bruin's  climbing  propensities,  they  would  scarcely 
have  left  this  point  unguarded ;  as  it  was,  the  beai 


Progress.  89 

proceeded  immediately  to  take  advantage  of  it^ 
With  a  spring  he  caught  hold  of  an  opening  formed 
by  a  missing  stone,  and  drawing  his  body  up  to  his 
paw,  he  stuck  his  foot  into  the  hole  and  pressed  his 
broad  back  against  the  opposite  side ;  a  projecting 
brick  gave  him  a  second  hold,  and  then  the  diffi- 
culty was  over,  for  the  chimney  narrowing,  he 
managed  to  get  up  by  the  simple  pressure  of  his 
knees  and  back,  and  the  use  of  his  broad  and  mus- 
cular paws.  A  few  seconds  sufficed  for  him  to 
reach  the  top,  on  which  he  sat  with  his  heels  dang- 
ling in  the  air,  to  enjoy  the  prospect  and  take 
breath,  while  he  deliberated  on  his  farther  pro 
ceedings. 

Meanwhile  an  inquiry  had  been  entered  npon 
by  the  authorities  of  Caneville  concerning  the  riot, 
in  which  one  of  the  police  was  alleged  to  have 
been  killed,  but  as  the  object  of  the  inquiry  limped 
into  the  assembly  during  the  sitting,  it  was  not 
considered  worth  while  to  hear  evidence  as  to  the 
authors  of  his  death ;  and  as  he,  moreover,  dis- 
tinctly stated  that  the  beast  who  struck  the  blow 
was  not  a  bear,  it  was  ordered  that  the  bear  who 
was  in  custody  on  the  charge  should  be  liberated 
forthwith.  Great  was  the  surprise  of  his  guards, 
however,  on  proceeding  to  his  prison,  to  find  that 
he  had  anticipated  the  verdict  and  had  taken  the 
liberty  of  setting  himself  free ;  in  what  way  was 
pretty  clear,  as,  on  looking  up  the  chimney,  they 
were  no  less  amused  than  astonished  to  see  him 
just  in  the  act  of  swinging  himself  on  to  the  pro- 
jecting branch  of  the  tree  and  disappear  from  theii 
10* 


90  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

view.  They  ran  round  into  the  court  to  mark  the 
end  of  Bruin's  manoeuvres,  but  he  bad  been  too 
quick  for  them;  not  knowing  of  his  being  again  a 
free  bear,  and  apprehensive  of  being  pursued,  he 
had  descended  the  tree  with  the  utmost  velocity, 
cHmbed  over  a  ruined  wall,  and  dropping,  not 
lightly,  into  the  stream,  with  a  few  bold  strokes 
reached  the  opposite  shore,  where  he  immediately 
climbed  a  leafy  oak,  with  the  intention  of  v/aiting 
till  the  hue  and  cry  was  over. 

He  kept  his  position  very  quietly  all  day,  rather 
surprised  that  no  commotion  should  be  visible  in 
and  about  the  prison,  of  which  he  commanded  a 
good  view;  and  as  evening  was  falling  he  resolved 
to  descend,  and,  recrossing  the  stream  higher  up, 
seek  refuge  in  some  one  of  his  late  haunts.  Just 
as  he  was  about  putting  this  resolution  into  effect 
he  heard  voices  beneath  the  tree,  and  lay  quite 
still  to  listen.  But  what  was  his  astonishment,  as 
they  drew  nearer,  to  perceive  that  one  of  the  two 
foxes  from  whom  the  sounds  proceeded,  was  his 
former  steward  and  factotum !  His  interest  in  their 
movements  was  of  course  increased,  and  he  listened, 
with  his  ears  and  eyes  bent  down,  to  catch  their 
every  syllable  and  look.  The  stranger  Fox,  it  ap- 
peared, was  about  crossing  the  brook  to  the  city, 
and  the  other  one  had  accompanied  him  thus  far, 
but  refused  to  enter  the  town.  On  this,  the  follow- 
ing words  reached  Bruin's  ear  :— 

Stranger. — I  have  noticed  more  than  onco, 
rousin,  that  you  avoid  the  town    and  yet  I  have 


Progress.  9 1 

known  you  declare  that  no  one  but  a  cow  could 

live  in  the  country. 

Fox. — True  enough,  my  dear  fellow ;  but  since 
I  left  his  service,  you  know,  I  don't  care  to  run  the 
risk  of  meeting  him. 

Stranger. — Ha  !  ha !  I  see.  You  are  rather  ap- 
prehensive he  should  seize  you  by  the  throat,  and 
exclaim,  '•^ My  money  or  your  life!" 

Fox. — Hush!  hush!  who  knows  what  ears  may 
be  listening  ?  Erfough  that  I  have  a  comfortable 
competency,  and  don't  choose  to  run  the  risk  of 
losing  it. 

Stranger. — Well,  well,  cousin,  I  say  no  more; 
but  remember,  your  grandfather  and  mine  never 
left  his  home  for  fear  of  meeting  with  a  wolf  who 
owed  him  a  grudge,  and  was  found  dead  in  his  bed, 
having  been  murdered  by  the  very  wolf  after  all. 
Come  1  you  needn't  look  so  down  about  it,  old  fel- 
low; nothing  half  so  bad,  I  hope,  will  come  to 
you.— Ta!  ta! 

So  saying,  the  stranger  fox  took  leave  of  his 
cousin,  and  was  soon  on  the  opposite  shore. 

Fox  waited  till  he  saw  him  land,  and  then  slowly 
turned  to  retrace  his  steps. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  he  taken  half-a-dozen 
paces,  than  a  rushing  noise  smote  his  ears ;  and 
before  he  could  raise  his  head  a  heavy  body  struck 
him  between  the  shoulders,  with  a  violence  which 
dashed  him  fiat  on  to  the  ground.  He  neither 
moved  nor  uttered  a  cry ;  his  neck  was  broken. 
With  a  savage  howl.  Bruin — for  it  is  easy  to  guesa 
that  it  was  he — put  his  heavy  paw  upon  the  other's 


92  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

chest;  but  finding  all  still,  he  examined  his  clotbei^ 
whence  he  took  all  the  valuables.  He  paused  in 
his  work  to  chide  his  own  precipitancy;  for  had  he 
followed  the  Fox  he  might,  perhaps,  have  learnt 
his  dvvelhng  and  regained  great  part  of  his  property. 
It  was  too  late  now ;  so,  giving  a  savage  kick  on 
the  face  of  the  unfortunate  animal,  he  heaped  it 
over  with  leaves,  and  pursued  his  original  inten- 
tion of  regaining  the  city,  and  before  night  was 
once  more  beneath  the  roof  of  a  late  associate. 

He  remained  for  several  days  perfectly  quiet  and 
inactive ;  but  finding  no  search  was  instituted  for 
him,  he,  little  by  little,  resumed  his  old  habits,  and, 
as  many  knew  to  their  cost,  his  old  overbearing 
temper. 

Among  the  tastes  prevailing  to  an  immense  ex- 
tent in  the  community  of  Oaneville,  a  great  love 
for  those  dainties  which  we  call  oysters  had  al- 
ways been  remarkable.  It  occurred  to  Bruin,  as 
he  had  now  some  trifling  capital,  that  he  would 
invest  a  portion  in  such  articles  as  made  up  tlie 
fixtures  and  stock-in-trade  of  an  oyster-merchant: 
the  former  expression  is,  however,  a  misnomer,  for 
the  stall  and  tubs  included  under  the  term  fixtures 
would  be  more  properly  described  as  moveables. 
This  was  soon  effected ;  and  Bruin  having  chosen 
a  semi-respectable  thoroughfare,  where  he  would 
have  a  chance  of  a  customer  or  two  from  the  up- 
per, and  would  not  be  too  far  removed  from  the 
lower  class  of  Caneville  society,  he  planted  his 
stall,  arranged  his  tubs,  spruced  up  his  own  person 
with  the  addition  of  a  most  formidable  collar  and 


Progress.  ,  93 

a  most  doubtfully  clean  apron,  and  vociferated  his 
"Penny  a  lot,  pups  I  penny  a  lot  I"  in  a  way 
which  greatly  edified  the  bystanders.  The  by- 
standers were,  however,  soon  induced  to  become 
purchasers,  for  very  few  of  them  could  resist  oysters, 
it  they  had  the  wherewithal  to  purchase  them ;  and 
Bruin's  natives  were  so  fine  and  fresh,  and  he  had 
so  clc7er  a  knack  of  opening  them,  that  it  was 
really  worth  the  money  to  see  him  do  that,  and 
many  actually  went  there  for  the  purpose  :  so  that 
it  really  seemed  he  had  at  last  hit  upon  a  business 
for  which  he  was  entirely  suited,  which  met  also 
the  public  views,  and  that  a  short  time  would  en- 
able him,  with  prudence,  to  save  provision  for  his 
old  age. 

But,  alas,  the  perversity  of  bears  !  Ko  sooner 
did  anything  like  a  smile  from  Fortune's  face  alight 
i-.pon  him,  than  he  seemed  resolved  by  his  uncom- 
j)romising  temper,  to  turn  it  to  a  frown  I  As  long 
as  the  business  was  new  to  him,  he  took  pleasure 
in  performing  the  duties  belonging  to  it  in  a  proper 
manner;  a  little  roughly,  it  may  be,  but  still — 
properly.  Directly  it  grew  familiar,  he  became 
careless ;  and  he  had  a  most  wilful  habit  of  aggra- 
vating his  customers,,  which  could  not,  of  course, 
continue  without  seriously  injuring  his  trade.  For 
instance,  when  some  pert  young  puppy  would  come 
forward,  and  civilly  enough  request  his  "one  or 
two  penn'orth  of  natives,"  Bruin  would  first  insist 
on  having  the  money  paid  down,  and  would  then 
tantalise  his  customer  by  offering  him  the  opened 
oyster  and  hastily  withdrawing  it  just  as  the  impa- 


94  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

tient  jaws  were  about  to  close  on  the  desired  morse\ 
and  so  on  to  the  end,  to  the  vast  irritation  of  many 
an  irascible  little  animal. 

And  a  day  came  when  this  same  spirit  caused 
the  upset  of  his  trade,  and  set  a  veto  upon  his  ''sell- 
ing the  natives,"  at  least  in  Caneville,  for  the  future. 
A  fox.  and  a  young  terrier  had  both  paid  their 
money,  and  were  eagerly  waiting  for  their  oysters, 
disturbing  by  their  clamour  a  grave  old  dog  who 
was  licking  the  shell  of  his  last  penn'orth,  when  a 
domestic  from  a  wealthy  family,  arrayed  in  a  su- 
perb livery  cloak,  came  up  to  order  a  lot  for  his 
master.  The  usual  game — if  it  can  be  called  so, 
when  all  the  fun  was  on  one  side,  was  being  played 
— three  distinct  efforts  had  been  made  by  Terrier 
to  get  his  second  instalment,  when,  in  the  struggle 
which  ensued,  the  vinegar-bottle  was  knocked  over, 
the  cork  came  out,  and  the  perfidious  liquid,  highly 
adulterated  with  vitriol  (for,  to  their  shame  be  it 
spoken,  the  dogs  of  distillers  did  not  hesitate  to 
endanger  the  lives  of  the  inhabitants  by  such  prac- 
tices), poured  in  full  volume  over  the  rich  livery- 
cloak  of  the  servant,  which  was  completely  spoiled. 
The  master,  who  was  as  powerful  as  he  was  avari- 
cious, made  a  formal  complaint  against  Bruin  and 
his  stall  as  a  nuisance ;  and  as  it  was  impossible 
even  in  Caneville  to  obtain  perfect  justice,  the  re- 
port, without  other  inquiry,  was  taken  as  correct, 
and  Bruin,  boiling  with  rage,  had  the  mortification 
of  seeing  his  tubs  smashed,  his  stall  destroyed,  and 
his  "  natives"  scattered  all  abroad  without  being 
able  to  strike  a  blow  in  their  defence. 


Down  Hill.  95 


DOWN  HILL. 

"OBUIN,  that  ^reat  animal,  was  seated  on  a  bank 
-■-^  overhanging  the  river,  which,  being  shallow 
ac  this  spot,  brawled  loudly  over  fts  pebbly  bed, 
some  parts  of  which  were  dry.  It  was  at  such  a 
distance  from  the  city,  that  all  the  noises  common 
to  its  streets  were  united  into  one  buzz  or  hum,  and 
the  whole  scene  was  well  adapted  to  suggest  medi- 
tations upon  private  matters,  or  the  affairs  of  the 
world  in  general.  Yet  Bruin  did  not  seem  influ- 
enced by  any  such  reflections :  if  one  might  venture 
a  guess  from  the  appearance  of  his  physiognomy, 
one  would  say  that  nothing  in  particular  occupied 
his  brains ;  true,  his  looks  were  black,  and  his  head 
was  cast  down,  his  eyes,  as  usual,  were  cunning  and 
ferocious,  but  then  they  were  always  so,  and  con- 
sequently presented  no  index  of  what  was  passing 
w^ithin. 

Suddenly  his  features  brightened,  his  face  as- 
sumed an  expression  of  interest,  and  he  put  his  paw 
gently  behind  him  to  secure  a  stone,  whilst  his  gaze 
was  intently  fixed  on  a  dry  spot  of  the  bed  below. 
Following  the  direction  of  his  look,  one  might  have 
perceived  an  uncommonly  fat  frog  pulling  with  all 
his  strength  at  the  leg  of  another  one  whose  body 
was  hidden  behind  a  heap  of  pebbles,  and  certainly 
the  sight  was  one  to  amuse  a  wiser  head  than  a 
bear's.  The  standing-place  of  the  paunchy  little 
animal  being  very  green  and  slippery,  and  the  leg 


96  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

which  he  so  tightly  clasped  belonging  to  a  fellow 
creature  of  no  ordinary  robustness,  the  struggle 
was  diversified  every  few  seconds  by  the  fat  fellow 
toppling  on  to  his  nose  or  back,  or  being  dragged 
behind  the  heap,  and  then  suddenly  reappearing, 
still  holding  with  passionless  determination  to  that 
devoted  leg,  and  tumbling  about  without  uttering 
a  syllable.  It  was  when  the  greater  part  of  hia 
body  was  exposed  to  view  in  a  position  more  comi- 
cal than  dignified,  so  great  were  his  exertions,  that 
Bruin's  stone,  cast  with  unerring  aim,  descended 
upon  the  unfortunate  frog.  It  hit  him  upon  the 
softest  and  most  projecting  part  of  his  back,  and 
had  the  effect  of  raising  him  instantly  into  a  per- 
pendicular position,  when  looking  round  and  ob- 
serving the  huge  beast  above  about  to  repeat  the 
application,  he  clapped  his  broad  hand  over  the 
wounded  place,  and  limped  hastily  away  ;  nor  could 
all  the  enticements  of  the  bear,  conveyed,  it  is  true, 
in  very  unflattering  language,  induce  him  to  expose 
his  person  to  the  chances  of  a  second  throw. 

Bruin's  attention  was  shortly  after  aroused  anew, 
by  observing  a  wretched  old  dog  tottering  under 
the  weight  of  a  large  bundle,  strapped  upon  hia 
back,  which  he  was  conveying  to  the  city.  He 
came  within  a  few  feet  of  the  bear,  whom  he  knew 
slightly,  and  casting  down  his  load,  which  he 
seemed  to  have  brought  from  a  distance,  wiped  hia 
face  with  his  ragged  tail.  Bruin  was  the  first  to 
speak. 

Bruin  (with  a  grunt). — Hard  at  work  as  usua]| 
eh  I  Flip? 


Down  Hill.  97 

Flip, — Yes,  Master  Bruin,  these  are  hard  times; 
no  bone  to  pick  without  it,  you  know. 

Bruin  (with  a  very  emphatic  grunt). — That 
depends;  some  have  lots  of  bones,  and  fine  clothes, 
and  warm  beds,  without  doing  anything  harder 
for  them  than  picking  the  one,  putting  on  the  other, 
and  sleeping  on  the  third; — but  never  mind  that; 
what  have  you  got  there  in  your  bundle,  old 
fellow  ? 

Flip. — Why,  songs.  Master  Bruin ;  and  you,  who 
are  fond  of  mus-ic,  might  make  mints  of  money  by 
selling  'em,  if  you'd  only  choose  to  do  it. 

Bruin  (pricking  up  his  ears). — Ah,  Master  Flip ! 
and  in  what  way  ? 

Flip. — Why,  here  are  all  the  new  songs  that 
have  been  sung  for  the  last  ten  seasons  by  the 
Caterwaullic  Society  at  their  new  Hall,  and  a  lot 
more  besides,  printed  in  half-a-dozen  columns  three 
times  as  long  as  my  tail,  and  all  for  a  penn3\  Why, 
the  very  names  of  them  are  worth  double  the 
money.  I'm  going  to  take  this  package  to  old 
Powtry  the  bookseller,  and,  if  you're  in  want  of  a 
job,  I'll  recommend  you  to  him  as  one  of  the 
venders. 

The  proposal  in  Bruin's  state  of  finance  was  not 
to  be  despised,  for  since  his  forced  retirement  from 
business,  he  had  found  his  stomach  and  his  pockets, 
by  a  very  natural  sympathy,  suffering  from  pre- 
cisely the  same  complaint — a  degree  of  emptiness, 
namely — which  there  seemed  no  chance  of  finding 
a  remedy  for;  but  he  had  sundry  doubts  as  to  hia 
capabilities  for  the  new  employment  he  was  about 


98  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

seeking,  particularly  as  be  was  aware  his  leputation 
was  more  notorious  than  favourable.  To  his  sur- 
prise, however,  though  his  person  was  well  known 
to  the  individual  Powtry,  not  the  slightest  objection 
seemed  to  be  made  on  the  score  of  anything.  The 
terms  of  his  agreement,  alas !  not  remarkably  liberal, 
were  arranged;  Bruin  spent  a  couple  of  daj^s  in 
conning  over  his  task,  and  forgetting  to  thank  the 
poor  dog  who  had  procured  him  his  situation,  he 
once  more  entered  the  busy  streets  of  Caneville  to 
add  his  bass  voice  to  the  other  cries  of  that  populous 
city.  His  appearance,  as  he  made  his  way  into  the 
centre  of  the  most  active  thoroughftire,  holding  in 
one  paw  his  lists  of  songs— longer  than  most  of  the 
inhabitants — whilst  his  other  was  thrust  into  his 
trowsers'  pocket;  the  impudent  leer  upon  his  face, 
as  he  surveyed  his  audience,  and  the  careless  set  of 
his  clothes,  which,  big  as  he  was,  seemed  a  size  too 
capacious  for  him,— immediately  attracted  a  crowd. 
A  butcher's  dog,  who  had  been  ordered  to  make  all 
speed  to  No.  10  in  this  same  street  with  a  leg  of 
mutton  in  his  basket,  stayed  to  gape  and  listen, 
although  he  was  standing  opposite  No.  9.  A  young 
pup  from  a  neighbouring  alley  ran  out  at  the  sound 
of  his  voice  to  learn  the  news.  A  spaniel,  with 
long  curly  hair  and  medicine-basket  on  his  arm, 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  just  stopping  to 
hear,  though  three  servants  of  one  of  his  master's 
patients  were  scouring  the  streets  in  search  of  him ; 
nor  could  an  eminent  vocalist  of  the  feline  tribe,  la 
Signorina  Pussetta  Scracciolini,  pass  by  without 
lending  an  ear  to  the  wonderful  list  of  melodies. 


Down  TIill.  99 

There  was  anotlier  figure,  too,  who  slackened  her 
pace  as  she  was  passing  the  group,  and  by  an  irre- 
sistible impulse  seemed  f.ompelled  to  draw  near  and 
listen;  she  was  richly  dressed  in  mantle  and  hood, 
which,  thrown  gracefully  back,  displayed  a  head 
and  neck  of  aristocratic  proportions ;  she  seemed 
ill,  however,  and  weak,  for  her  delicate  paws  were 
resting  on  a  stick,  as  though  such  aid  were  requisite, 
whilst  her  short  breathing  seemed  to  hint  that  her 
sorrows  were  bringing  her  nearer  to  her  doom.  She 
must  have  been  once  possessed  of  considerable 
beauty,  and  even  now  there  was  enough  remaining 
to  distinguish  the  Hon.  Miss  Greyhound. 

Thus  surrounded,  Bruin  vociferated  with  all  the 
power  of  his  lungs, — 

"0...0...0...0...0...Y A! 

N'ever  were  such  times!  Here  you  are  I  only  look! 
Double  your  own  length  of  songs  for  one  penny  I 
Enough  paper  to  make  yourselves  a  coat  to  wrap 
yourselves  in  melody!  Only  one  penny!  Five 
hundred  of  the  choicest  songs  of  the  Caterwaulic 
and  Puppeeyan  Amalgamated  Harmonic  Societies; 
and  upwards  of  five  hundred  more  of  the  most  po- 
pular ditties  of  Caneville,  and  all  for  one  penny  ! !" 

And  then  he  croaked  forth  the  following  doggrel 
(the  most  acceptable  poetry,  by  the  way,  of  the 
city),  in  which  the  titles  of  the  songs  were  dragged 
in,  without  any  regard  to  order,  to  make  up  a 
rhyme : 

**  Here's  '  What's  a  Clock  V 
And  •  Like  a  rock 
He  stood  upon  his  dignity  ;* 


100  AyVENTURES    OF    A    BeAR. 

With  'Pups  alive,' 
And  *  Vie  are  Five,' 

And  dozens  more.     Who'll  buy!  vho'll  buy  I 
Here's  'Puss  was  out^' 
And  *  Piggy's  snout 

Was  longer  far  than  I  can  tell  ;* 
With  'Men-y  Dogs,' 
And  'Yellow  Frogs' 

In  scores,  Fra  ready  here  to  sell. 
Here's  'Burning  sighs,' 
And  'Ah  1  those  eyes  !' 

And  '  Songs  for  kittens  newly  born  ;* 
With  '  Stay,  oh,  stay  1' 
And  '  Don't  say  nay,' 

And  some  no  worse  for  being  worn. 
Here's  '  Love's  an  ass  I' 
And  'Pass  the  glass,' 

And  '  Jocky  is  the  dog  for  me  ;' 
Here's  '  Did  you  ever  ?' 
*No,  I  never  1' 

And  *  I  hope  it  yet  may  be,* 

And  all  for  one  penny  1" 

And  thus  he  went  down  the  street  disposing  of 
his  v/ares  with  wonderful  rapidity,  and  producing 
sundry  forced  accompaniments  to  his  own  wretched 
song  by  treading  on  the  toes  of  all  the  pups  who 
were  attracted  by  curiosity  to  his  vicinity. 

A  second  and  a  third  supply  was  exhausted  be- 
fore the  canine  and  feline  public  of  Caneville  got 
tired  of  purchasing  their  own  measure  of  song; 
whether  a  fourth  would  have  been  successful  there 
was  no  chance  of  discovering,  for  Old  Powtry 
looked  in  vain  for  Bruin  with  the  proceeds  of  the 
last  lot.  Day  after  day  passed  by  and  still  he  was 
absent,  until  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  have  a 
search  after  him     For  some  time  he  eluded  all  iu" 


Down  ITrn. 


101 


quiries,  as  he  well  knew  his  fate'if'his'hiding-^lace 
were  discovered;  for  h4vin,g  lappropri&.lecl;,  th©;. 
money  of  his  master  to  his  owii^  use^  ho  was^fiiUj ' 
aware  that  his  person  would  have  to  pay  tlie  pen- 
alty of  his  transgression.  He  skulked  about  the 
lowest  purlieus  of  the  city,  among  curs  of  the  most 
degraded  character,  as  dirty  and  negligent  in  body 
as  they  were  debased  in  mind,  until,  in  hourly  fear 
of  being  betrayed,  he  felt  that  the  worst  certainty 
would  be  preferable  to  such  a  state  of  suspense  and 
alarm,  so  resolved  to  deliver  himself  up  and  brave 
the  worst.  He  was  again  cast  into  prison :  for  that 
he  was  prepared ;  but  he  was  not  prepared  for  the 
wretched  place  of  confinement  to  which  he  was  now 
condemned.  On  being  first  thrust  into  it,  he  could 
not  beliold  all  its  horror ;  but  when  his  eyes  got 
accustomed  to  the  semi-darkness,  he  found  himself 
in  a  dismal  cell  under  ground,  half  full  of  water 
from  the  overflowing  of  the  river,  and  teeming  with 
numerous  crawling,  slimy  things.  A  little  hole, 
half  choked  with  earth  and  stones,  let  in  all  the 
place  possessed  of  light  and  air ;  and  as  the  only 
air  which  could  ever  visit  the  place  had  to  pass 
over  a  bed  of  stagnant  mud  ere  it  reached  the  spot, 
it  possessed  but  few  refreshing  properties. 

Bruin,  who  had  in  his  despair  given  himself 
quietly  up  to  the  authorities,  thinking  probably 
that  by  the  very  act  he  might  procure  some  miti- 
gation of  his  sentence,  now  that  he  perceived  his 
doom,  gave  way  to  one  of  those  fearful  bursts  of 
rage  which  no  experience  had  succeeded  in  teach- 
ing him  to  curb.     He  howled  till  the  dirt  sticking 


102  Adteijitvres  of  a  Bear. 

abbti'o  the  ykulie'ci  'celling,  and  the  earth  choking  up 
.the  a'ir.-hQre,;;dropj)eaj)ie<'.emeal  to  the  ground,  and 
every  itisect  that '  had  ears  covered  tliem  up  the 
best  way  it  could  to  prevent  its  becoming  instan- 
taneously deafened  by  the  horrid  sound ;  then 
tearing  round  and  round  and  round  the  confined 
space  of  his  cell,  till  there  seemed  to  him  fifty  win- 
dows instead  of  one,  and  the  single  door  appeared 
suddenly  placed  in  every  part  of  the  miserable 
vault, — he  struck  his  head  against  the  rugged  wall 
of  his  prison,  and  toppled  over  senseless  on  to  the 
ground. 


AT  REST. 

IT  is  not  easy  to  say  how  long  Bruin  remained 
insensible,  but  it  must  have  been  some  time; 
for  when  he  recovered  himself,  there  was  a  feeling 
of  weakness  about  him  as  though  he  had  been 
fasting  long.  His  head,  too,  felt  sadly  dizzy  as  he 
rose  from  his  cold  bed  and  pushed  his  nose  against 
the  hole  of  a  window  to  procure  a  little  air.  From 
this  he  withdrew  to  pace  his  narrow  cell ;  and  aa 
the  turning  round  increased  his  giddiness,  on  reach- 
ing the  opposite  wall  he  retraced  his  steps  back- 
wards, and  so  continued  for  a  full  hour,  gently 
moving  his  head  meanwhile  to  the  right  and  left, 
as  was  his  wont.  Then  getting  into  the  driest 
Corner,  he  threw  himself  of  a  heap  on  the  ground, 
and  mechanically  resuming  the  old  family  practice 
of  sucking  his  paw,  tried  to  bring  his  mind  to  bear 


At  Ke8t.  103 

upon  his  situation.  But  this  was  a  matter  of  no 
little  difficulty,  for  the  late  events  of  his  life  had 
tended  very  considerably  to  weaken  an  intellect 
that  was  never  remarkable  for  strength  ;  and  so  he 
Bat,  and  relapsed  into  a  dozy  state,  where  forgetful- 
ness,  for  the  most  part,  presided.  At  times,  it  ia 
true,  he  would  wake  up,  and  the  old  fire  lighting 
in  his  eyes,  he  would  dash  his  paw  on  the  ground 
as  he  observed  the  prison-walls  close  around  him  ; 
but  the  feeling  was  momentary,  and  it  was  evident 
that  the  indulgence  of  his  evil  passions  had  so  far 
clouded  his  reason,  that  a  few  weeks'  solitary  con- 
finement would  deprive  him  of  all  power  of  reflec- 
tion for  ever. 

Evening  had  come  again,  though  it  was  dark 
night  in  Bruin's  cell,  and  had  been  so  for  hours, 
when  suddenly  he  heard,  or  fancied  he  heard,  his 
name  uttered  in  a  loud  whisper.  A  fear  he  had 
never  before  experienced,  an  apprehension  of  he 
knew  not  what,  stole  over  him ;  and  it  was  not  till 
the  voice,  a  little  louder,  exclaimed, — 

"  Bruin  !  Bruin,  I  say  !"  that  he  dared  venture  a 
reply;  when,  after  an  effort,  he  said, — 

"Who  calls?" 

"  A  friend,"  was  the  ready  answer. 

"A  friend!"  exclaimed  Bruin,  savagely;  "theu 
you  can't  be  seeking  me,  for  I  have  got  no  friends.*' 

*'Come,  come.  Bruin,"  said  the  voice  again,  "don't 
be  testy  ;  it's  I,  the  Captain,  and  you  know  I  never 
played  you  false." 

Bruin  now,  indeed,  recognized  the  voice  as 
that  of,  perhaps,  the  most  desperate  dog  in  Cane- 


104  Adventures  ct  a  Bear. 

ville.  He  was  a  bloodhound  of  large  size  and  foi  mi 
dable  strength,  and  such  ferocity  and  daring,  that 
few  cared  to  come  into  contact  with  him,  lest  by  some 
chance  they  should  be  involved  in  a  quarrel  which 
could  only  have  a  disastrous  termination.  Public 
report  fixed  more  than  one  deep  crime  upon  this 
canine  desperado;  but  still,  somehow,  he  escaped 
the  power  of  *the  law.  Bruin  felt  flattered  at  his 
attention,  and  inquired  what  had  brought  him  there. 

"  Why,"  replied  the  Captain,  "  this  is  the  third 
time  I  have  been  here  already;  but  though  I  have 
called  out  your  name  so  loudly  that  I  expected  to 
alarm  the  guard,  I  have  got  no  answer  till  to-night. 
I  shouldn't  have  come  back  again,  for  I  thought 
you  were  dead." 

"So  I  have  been  nearly.  Captain,"  answered 
Bruin;  "but  I  am  not  quite  gone  yet,  you  hear. 
Now  you  have  found  me  alive,  though,  what  is  it 
you  want ;  and  how  can  I,  shut  up  here,  be  of  any 
interest  to  you  ?" 

"Listen  to  me,  Bruin,"  said  the  Captain,  as  he 
squeezed  his  nose  into  the  tiny  window,  and  drop- 
ped his  voice  to  a  low  whisper;  "if  you  were  out, 
and  at  liberty,  would  you  feel  inclined  to  join  me 
and  one  or  two  others  in  a  job  we  intend  to  come 
oif  to-night?" 

Bruin  hastened  to  reply,  but  the  Captain  inter- 
rupted him,  saying, — 

"  Don't  be  in  a  hurry  to  make  a  promise,  until 
you  know  what  it  is ;  for,  shut  up  here  as  you  are, 
you  can't  betray  the  secret  if  you  would,  so  I  don^t 
mind  revealing  it.    Four  of  us  mean  to  break  into 


At  Rest.  105 

old  Lord  Greyhound's  house  to-night,  where  we 
hear  there's  money  enough  to  enrich  us  for  our 
lives;  but  as  we're  likely  to  have  some  hard  work 
and  stout  resistance,  and  think  we  are  not  strong 
enough  yet  for  the  business,  we  should  like  you  to 
join  us,  if  you  choose  to  do  so. 

Bruin  reflected  a  moment,  where  reflection  was 
ruin.  Had  he  at  once  and  scornfully  rejected  the 
horrible  temptation,  there  would  still  have  been 
hope  for  him;  but,  besides  the  prospect  of  liberty, 
though  he  did  not  yet  know  how  that  was  to  be 
effected,  there  was  the  chance  of  enriching  himself 
once  again ;  and,  above  all,  there  was  a  prospect  of 
revenge  against  the  dog  who  had  once  sought  his 
life,  because  he  had  been  selected  as  an  object  of 
preference  by  his  daughter.  His  meditations,  there- 
fore, were  at  once  brought  to  an  end,  by  his  reso 
lution  to  accept  the  proposal ;  but  before  he  did  so, 
the  caution  he  had  acquired  by  a^ssociating  with 
such  beasts  as  the  Captain  made  him  say, — 

*'  Let  us  understand  each  other  clearly.  You 
said  Just  now,  '  if  I  were  out  and  at  liberty ;'  have 
you,  then,  the  power  to  set  me  free?" 

"  Provided  you  will  be  of  the  party,  and  agree 
to  our  terms,"  answered  the  Captain. 

"And  how  if  I  refuse?"  pursued  Bruin. 

"  Why,"  replied  the  Captain,  quickly  and  fero 
ciously,  "you'll  stop  there  till  you  starve." 

"  I  accept  your  offer,"  said  Bruin,  after  the  slight 
est  possible  pause;  "and  T  would  have  done  so  with 
out  the  alternative,  for  private  reasons  of  my  own* 
so  let  me  out,  old  fellow,  as  fast  as  you  like." 


106  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

"  And  you  give  your  word  ?"  said  the  Captain. 

*'  The  word  of  a  bear,"  replied  Bruin. 

The  other  exclaimed, — 

"All  right!  I  shall  see  you  again  in  half  an  hour/' 

Never  did  half  hour  seem  so  long.  As  minute 
after  minute  flew  by,  there  broke  upon  Bruin's 
misty  brain  a  notion  that,  perhaps,  this  was  only  a 
trick  of  the  Captain's  to  get  him  to  declare  his 
willingness  to  join  any  desperate  deed  in  order  to 
ruin  him;  but  then,  again,  he  could  discover  no 
reason  for  such  enmity,  and  could  see  no  advan- 
tage accruing  to  that  individual  by  such  a  course. 
At  the  very  idea,  however,  of  such  betrayal,  his 
teeth  gnashed  together,  his  eyes  glared  in  that 
darkness  like  two  live  coals,  and  he  involuntarily 
crossed  his  huge  paws  over  his  chest  as  though 
hugging  some  imaginary  enemy.  But  he  recov- 
ered his  self-possession  on  hearing  a  grating  noise 
at  the  other  side  of  the  cell,  which  gradually  be- 
came louder,  until  at  last  a  gust  of  air,  which  re- 
vived his  spirits,  came  whistling  round  the  vault, 
and  told  that  his  path  was  open.  The  Captain,  too, 
was  in  an  instant  by  his  side  to  confirm  it.  He 
passed  through  an  aperture,  caused  by  an  open 
iron  door,  preceded  by  his  companion,  who  had, 
however,  first  cautiously  reclosed  and  fastened  up 
the  secret  entrance ;  and  as  they  traversed  a  damp 
and  dark  tunnel,  the  Captain  explained  the  mys- 
tery, by  saying  this  place  had  been  known  to 
him  some  time,  though  it  was  unsuspected  by  the 
authorities ;  and  that  the  exterior  entrance  was  so 
covered  up  by  brambles,  that  no  one  ignorant  of 


At  Rest.  107 

the  spot  could  ever  imagine  what  lay  behind,  or 
would  care  to  explore  the  threatening  passage,  if 
by  any  chance  they  discovered  it. 

As  Bruin  was  exhausted  for  want  of  food,  and  it 
still  wanted  some  hours  of  the  time  appointed  for 
their  undertaking,  they  proceeded  to  one  of  the  old 
resorts  and  regaled  most  heartily,  the  sense  of 
liberty  after  his  confinement  raising  the  bear's 
spirits  to  the  highest  pitch.  At  length  the  time 
agreed  on  arrived,  and  the  party,  prepared  for  their 
desperate  and  wicked  undertaking,  set  out. 

It  has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  part  of  this 
history,  that  Lord  Greyhound  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal grandees  in  Caneville,  both  as  regarded  for- 
tune and  family,  and  that  he  lived  in  a  palace  be- 
fitting his  condition.  A  crowd  of  domestics  be- 
longed to  his  household,  but  the  Captain  was 
aware  that  their  cribs  were  remote,  and  that  but 
little  in  the  shape  of  resistance  was  to  be  feared 
from  them,  should  they  be  aroused.  Still  great 
caution  was  requisite,  for  if  they  did  not  bite  they 
could  bark,  and  that  would  be  equally  as  fatal  to 
their  success  on  this  occasion.  The  only  difficulty 
to  be  got  over  was  the  vigilance  of  a  porter  who 
slept  below,  whose  fidelity  to  his  master  had  been 
tried  on  more  than  one  occasion,  although  what 
made  such  attachment  singular  in  this  instance 
was  the  fact  that  the  said  porter  was  one  of  the 
feline  tribe, — a  cat,  in  fact,  of  large  dimensions, 
and  peculiarly  savage  nature.  Bruin,  however, 
took  upon  himself  the  task  of  quieting  this  servant 
and  keeping  watch  below,  whilst  the  others  should 


108  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

ransack  the  mansion,  a  place  of  rendezvous  being 
appointed  where  they  were  to  meet  in  case  of  alarm. 
To  avoid  suspicion  they  proceeded  alone  to  tho 
scene  of  their  intended  crime,  and,  favoured  by 
darkness,  they  reached  it  unchallenged.  Having 
gently  tried  the  fastenings  in  one  or  two  places, 
they  resolved  to  make  the  attempt  at  a  small 
door  at  the  back,  which  seemed  the  most  weakly 
guarded.  Bruin  pushed  it  first  quietly  with  his 
huge  shoulder,  and  finding  it  gradually  yielding, 
without  farther  ado  he  placed  his  knee  against  the 
lower  panel,  and,  with  less  noise  than  might  have 
been  expected,  sent  the  door  flying  from  its  fasten- 
ings. He  was  the  first  to  enter,  though  the  others 
were  close  behind ;  but  he  had  not  taken  two  steps 
within  the  bouse  than  he  saw,  as  he  thought,  two 
balls  of  fire  on  the  floor  before  him, — it  was  his 
last  look  of  worldly  things, — for  at  the  same  mo- 
ment the  porter  Cat,  for  it  was  he,  sprang  at  the 
huge  giant  like  a  fury,  and  dug  his  long  and 
pointed  talons  into  Bruin's  eyes.  With  a  howl  so 
dreadful,  so  awful  in  its  intense  agony  and  rage, 
that  it  seemed  to  spring  from  a  supernatural  source, 
the  afirighted  beast  rolled  over  and  over  in  his  pain, 
crushing  the  Cat  to  death  in  his  struggles;  then 
feeling,  even  amidst  bis  suffering,  the  necessity  of 
safety,  he  rose  to  his  feet,  and  ran  on,  on,  on,  he 
knew  not  whither,  till  he  felt  himself  in  the  midst 
of  water  and  heard  the  rushing  which  it  made.  So 
instantaneous  had  been  the  whole  transaction  that 
the  truth  was  never  rightly  known.  The  family—' 
nay,  the  neighbourhood— -aroused  by  the  horrid 


At  Rest.  109 

noise,  rushed  to  the  spot,  to  find  the  faithful  porter 
dead,  with  every  bone  shattered;  the  door  was 
open,  but  no  creature  was  there  to  tell  the  tale. 
One  alone  suspected  it — one  to  whom  that  cry  of 
agony  was  the  death-blow ;  for,  two  days  after 
the  event,  the  Hon.  Miss  Greyhound  slept  with  her 
fathers,  the  victim  of  a  misplaced  and  unworthy  at- 
tachment. 

And  Bruin,  where  was  he  ?  Alas  !  poor  beast  I 
Three  days  after  this  event  he  was  discovered  by 
the  authorities,  half  dead  with  pain,  and  led  back 
to  prison,  which  he  had  left  with  so  little  ceremony. 
His  senses,  however,  were  so  bewildered  by  his 
situation,  that  he  could  neither  explain  how  he  had 
escaped  from  his  dungeon,  nor  the  cause  of  his  pre- 
sent deplorable  condition ;  perhaps,  too,  he  deemed 
it  more  prudent  to  be  silent  on  both  these  matters. 
His  ju(^ges,  nevertheless,  taking  into  consideration 
his  now  helpless  state,  and  rightly  thinking  his 
powers  of  mischief  were  much  abated  by  the  loss 
of  his  eyes,  pardoned  his  previous  offence,  and 
thrust  him  alone  and  helpless  on  the  world. 

For  many  a  long  year  did  the  ill-fated  animal 
drag  on  his  wearisome  existence,  living  on  the 
charity — the  scanty  charity — of  Caneville.  De- 
prived of  sight,  no  longer  able  to  acquire  a  liveli- 
hood by  his  labour,  weary,  and  full  of  remorse,  he 
daily  took  his  round  through  the  public  streets, 
soliciting  a  penny  for  the  "  poor  blind."  A  dog, 
induced  for  a  weekly  trifle  and  the  prospect  of  an 
extra  bone  or  two  thrown  to  him  sometimes  by  the 
compassionate  as  they  went  their  melancholy  way, 
12 


110  Adventures  of  a  Bear. 

led  him  in  his  wanderings.  At  first,  however^ 
either  from  ignorance  or  carelessness,  or  a  currish 
malice,  he  would  often  guide  his  helpless  master 
into  positions  of  difficulty  and  danger,  from  which 
he  could  scarce  have  extricated  himself  but  for  the 
assistance  of  some  benevolent  passers-by ;  though 
his  situation  in  such  cases — be  it  said  to  the  shame 
of  the  inferior  population  of  Caneville — too  often 
excited  derision  and  laughter,  instead  of  aid  and 
consolation.  Once,  indeed,  he  was  seriously  hurt 
by  the  wilful  inattention  of  his  guide ;  for,  totter- 
ing along  as  usual  one  fine  morning  with  his  staff 
in  one  hand,  the  string  attached  to  the  dog's  collar 
in  the  other,  and  his  head  with  the  sightless  eyes 
raised  sadly  in  the  air,  while  he  uttered  his  plain- 
tive cry  of  "  Have  pity  on  the  poor  blind !"  the 
last  word  was  suddenly  converted  from  a  doleful 
whine  to  a  howl  of  pain  as  his  body  came  in  con- 
tact with  a  post  which  stood  right  across  his  path. 
Time,  which  cures  all  things,  brought  at  last  an 
effectual  remedy  to  his  sufferings,  and  that  remedy 
was  death  !  Ere  that  great  foe  or  friend  relieved 
poor  Bruin,  he  had  learnt  to  be  repentant  of  his 
former  life,  and  was  often  known  to  reprove  in 
others  any  tendency  to  those  faults  of  temper  or 
disposition  which  had  been  his  own  ruin.  If  he 
could  have  recovered  the  use  of  his  eyes  and  have 
mingled  once  more  with  the  business  of  life,  it  is  a 
question  whether  he  would  have  acted  up  to  the 
precepts  which  he  now  inculcated ;  but  as  the  ex- 
periment was  never  tried,  nor  could  be,  it  ia  but 
charitable  to  think  the  best. 


At  Rest. 


Ill 


Months  after  lie  had  departed  this  sinful  world, 
a  sturdy  traveller,  with  a  particularly  wide  mouth 
and  short  address,  entered  the  city  of  Caneville. 
He  stated  that  he  was  a  native  of  the  place,  and 
had  been  wandering  far  away  in  other  lands.  He 
made  various  inquiries  concerning  former  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town,  and  among  others  asked  for  Bruin. 
His  life,  much  as  I  have  recounted  it,  was  told  to 
him,  and  long  did  the  stranger  ruminate  over  the 
details.  Many  portions  of  it  were,  indeed,  known 
to  him,  for  the  traveller  was  no  other  than  our 
old  acquaintance  Tom;    but  all  was  interesting. 

When  he  had  heard  it  to  the  end,  he  uttered 
these  only  words,  which  might,  indeed,  serve  fo? 
moral  and  poor  Bruin's  epitaph : — 

**^\\  \t  ixin  a  (Srat  '§mr 


A  TALK  ABOUT  TIGERS. 

I  NEED  not  describe  a  tiger.  You  have  seen 
one,  or  the  picture  of  one.  He  is  the  great 
striped  cat.  The  large  spotted  ones  are  not  tigers. 
They  are  either  jaguars,  or  panthers,  or  leopards, 
or  ounces,  or  cneetahs,  or  servals.  But  there  is 
no  danger  of  your  mistaking  the  tiger  for  any 
other  animal.  He  is  the  largest  of  the  feline  tribe 
— the  lion  alone  excepted — and  individual  tigers 
have  been  measured  as  large  as  the  biggest  lion. 
The  shaggy  mane  that  covers  the  neck  and  shoul- 
ders of  an  old  male  lion  gives  him  the  appearance 
of  being  of  greater  dimensions  than  he  really  is. 
Skin  him  and  he  would  not  be  larger  than  an  old 
he-tiger  also  divested  of  his  hide. 

Like  the  lion,  the  tiger  varies  but  little  in  form 
or  color.  Nature  does  not  sport  with  these  power- 
ful beasts.  It  is  only  upon  the  meaner  animals 
she  plays  off  her  eccentricities.  The  tiger  may  be 
seen  with  the  ground  color  of  a  lighter  or  deeper 
yellow,  and  the  stripes  or  bars  more  or  less  black ; 
but  the  same  general  appearance  is  preserved,  and 
the  species  can  always  be  recognized  at  a  glance. 

112 


A  Talk  about  Tigeks,  113 

The  range  or  habitat  of  tlie  tiger  is  more  limited 
than  that  of  tlie  lion.  The  Litter  exists  tlirough- 
ont  the  Avhole  of  Africa,  as  well  as  tlie  southern 
half  of  Asia ;  whereas  the  tiger  is  found  only  in 
the  southeastern  countries  of  Asia,  and  some  of 
the  larger  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago. 
Westwardly,  his  range  does  not  extend  to  this  side 
of  the  Indus  river,  and  how  far  north  in  Asia  is 
uncertain.  Some  naturalists  assert  that  there  are 
tigers  in  Asia  as  far  north  as  the  Obi  River. 
This  would  prove  the  tiger  to  be  not  altogether  a 
tropical  animal,  as  he  is  generally  regardc  It  is 
certain  that  tigers  once  did  inhabit  the  countries 
around  the  Caspian  Sea.  There  lay  Hyrcania; 
and  several  Roman  writers  speak  of  the  Ilyrcanian 
tigers.  They  could  not  have  meant  any  of  the 
spotted  cats, — ounce,  panther,  or  leopard, — for  the 
Romans  knew  the  difference  between  these  and 
the  striped  or  true  tiger.  If,  then,  the  tiger  was 
an  inhabitant  of  those  trans-Himalayan  regions  in 
the  days  of  Augustus,  it  is  possible  it  still  exists 
there,  as  w^e  have  proofs  of  its  existence  in  Mon- 
golia and  northern  China  at  the  present  day. 

Were  we  to  believe  some  travelers,  we  should 
have  the  tiger,  not  only  in  Africa,  but  in  America. 
The  jaguar  is  the  tiger  {tigre)  of  the  Spanish 
Americans ;  and  the  panther,  leopard,  and  cheetafi, 
have  all  done  duty  as  "  tigers  "  in  the  writings  of 
old  travelers  in  Africa. 


114  A  Talk  about  Tigers. 

The  true  home  of  this  fierce  creature  is  the  hot 
jungle-covered  country  that  exists  in  extended 
tracts  in  Hindostan,  Siam,  Malaya,  and  parts  of 
China.  There  the  tiger  roams  undisputed  lord  of 
the  thicket  and  forest ;  and  although  the  lion  is 
also  found  in  these  countries,  he  is  comparatively 
a  rare  animal,  and,  from  being  but  seldom  met 
with,  is  less  talked  about  or  feared. 

We,  who  live  far  away  from  the  haunts  of  these 
great  carnivora,  can  hardly  realize  the  terror  wliich 
is  inspired  by  them  in  the  countries  they  infest. 

In  many  places  human  life  is  not  safe  ;  and  men 
go  out  upon  a  journey,  with  the  same  dread  of 
meeting  a  tiger,  that  we  would  have  for  an  en- 
counter with  a  mad  dog.  This  dread  is  by  no 
means  founded  upon  mere  fancies  or  fabricated 
stories.  Every  village  has  its  true  tales  of  tiger 
attacks  and  encounters,  and  every  settlement  has 
its  list  of  killed  or  maimed.  You  can  scarce  cre- 
dit such  a  relation,  but  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
whole  districts  of  fertile  country  have  from  time 
to  time  been  abandoned  by  their  inhabitants  out 
of  pure  fear  of  the  tigers  and  panthers  which  in- 
fested them  1  Indeed,  similar  cases  of  depopula- 
tion have  occurred  in  South  America,  caused  by  a 
far  less  formidable  wild  beast — the  jaguar. 

In  some  parts  of  India  the  natives  scarce  at- 
tempt resistance  to  the  attack  of  the  tiger.  In- 
deed, the  superstition  of  his  victims  aids  the  fierce 


A  Talk  about  Tigers.  115 

monster  in  their  destruction.  They  regard  him 
as  being  gifted  with  supernatural  power,  and  sent 
by  their  gods  to  destroy ;  and  under  this  convic- 
tion yield  themselves  up,  without  making  the 
slightest  resistance. 

In  other  parts,  where  races  exist  possessed  of 
more  energy  of  character,  the  tiger  is  hunted 
eagerly,  and  various  modes  of  killing  or  capturing 
him  are  practiced  in  different  districts. 

Sometimes  a  bow  is  set  with  poisoned  arrows, 
and  a  cord  attached  to  the  string.  A  bait  is  then 
placed  on  the  ground,  and  arranged  in  such  a  way 
that  the  tiger  on  approaching  it,  presses  against 
the  cord,  sets  the  bow-string  free,  and  is  pierced 
by  the  arrow — the  poison  of  which  eventually 
causes  his  death. 

A.  spring-gun  is  set  off  by  a  similar  contrivance, 
and  the  tiger  shoots  himself. 

The  log-trap  or  ''dead  fall" — often  employed 
by  American  backwoodsmen  for  capturing  the 
black  bear — is  also  in  use  in  India  for  trapping 
the  tiger.  This  consists  of  a  heavy  log  or  beam 
so  adjusted  upon  the  top  of  another  one  by  a  prop 
or  "  trigger,"  as  to  fall  and  crush  whatever  animal 
may  touch  the  trigger.  A  bait  is  also  used  for 
this  species  of  trap. 

Hunting  the  tiger  upon  elephants  is  a  royal 
sport  in  India,  and  is  often  followed  by  the  Indian 
rajahs,  and  sometimes  by  British  sportsmen  and 


116  A  Talk  about  Tigers. 

officers  of  the  English  army.  This  sport  is,  of 
course,  very  exciting ;  but  there  is  nothing  of  a 
ruse  practised  in  it.  The  hunters  go  armed  with 
rifles  and  spears ;  and  attended  by  a  large  number 
of  natives,  who  beat  the  jungle  and  drive  the 
game  within  reach  of  the  sportsmen.  Many  lives 
are  sacrificed  in  this  dangerous  sport ;  but  those 
who  suffer  are  usually  the  poor  peasants  employed 
as  beaters ;  and  an  Indian  rajah  holds  the  lives  of 
a  score  or  two  of  his  subjects  as  lightly  as  that  of 
a  tiger  itself. 

It  is  said  the  Chinese  catch  the  tiger  in  a  box- 
trap,  which  they  bait  simply  with  a  looking-glass. 
The  tiger,  on  approaching  the  looking-glass,  per- 
ceives his  own  shadow,  and  mistaking  it  for  a 
rival,  rushes  forward  to  the  trap,  frees  the  trigger, 
and  is  caught.  It  may  be  that  the  Chinese  prac- 
tice such  a  method.  That  part  is  likely  enough; 
but  it  is  not  likely  that  they  take  many  tigers 
this  way. 

Perhaps  you  may  be  of  opinion  that  the  plan 
w^hich  Ossaroo  was  about  to  follow  was  quite  as 
absurd  as  that  of  the  Chinese.  It  certainly  did 
sound  very  absurd  to  his  companions,  when  he 
first  told  them  that  it  was  his  intention  to  catch 
the  tiger  hy  hirdlime  I 


A  TIGER  TAKEN  BY  BIRDLIME. 

THE  plan  of  the  shikarree  was  put  to  the  test 
sooner  than  any  of  them  expected.  They  did 
not  look  for  the  tigei'to  return  before  sunset,  and 
they  had  resolved  to  pass  the  night  among  the 
branches  of  the  banyan  in  order  to  be  out  of  the 
way  of  danger.  The  tiger  might  take  it  into  his 
head  to  stroll  into  their  camp ;  and  althougli,  un- 
der ordinary  circumstances,  these  tierce  brutes 
have  a  dread  of  fire,  there  are  some  of  them  that 
do  not  regard  it,  and  instances  have  occurred  of 
tigers  making  their  attack  upon  men  who  were 
seated  close  to  a  blazing  pile  !  Ossaroo  knew  of 
several  such  cases,  and  had,  therefore,  given  his 
advice,  that  all  of  them  should  pass  the  night  in 
the  tree.  It  was  true  the  tiger  could  easily  scale 
the  banyan  if  the  notion  occurred  to  him ;  but  un- 
less they  made  some  noise  to  attract  his  attention, 
he  would  not  be  likely  to  discover  their  where- 
abouts. They  had  taken  the  precaution  to  erect 
a  platform  of  bamboos  among  the  branches,  so  as 
to  serve  them  for  a  resting-place. 

After  all,  they  were  not  under  the  necessity  of 

117 


lis  A  Tiger  Taken  by  Bibdlime. 

resorting  to  this  elevated  roost, — at  least  for  the 
purpose  of  passing  the  night  there.  But  they  oc- 
cupied it  for  a  while;  and  daring  that  while  they 
were  witnesses  to  a  scene  that  for  singularity,  and 
comicality  as  well,  was  equal  to  anything  that  any 
of  them  had  ever  beheld. 

It  wanted  about  half  an  hour  of  sunset,  and 
they  were  all  seated  around  the  camp  lire,  when  a 
singular  noise  reached  their  ears.  It  was  not  un- 
like the  "whirr"  made  by  a  thrashing-machine-- 
which  any  one  must  have  heard  who  has  traveled 
through  an  agricultural  district.  Unlike  this, 
however,  the  sound  was  not  prolonged,  but  broke 
out  at  intervals,  continued  for  a  few  seconds,  and 
then  was  silent  again. 

Ossaroo  was  the  only  one  of  the  party  who,  on 
hearing  this  sound,  exhibited  any  feelings  of  alarm. 
The  others  were  simply  curious.  It  was  an  un- 
nsual  sound.  They  wondered  what  was  produc- 
ing it — nothing  more. 

They  quite  shared  the  alarm  of  the  shikarree, 
when  the  latter  informed  them  that  what  they 
heard  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  "  purr  " 
of  a  tiger ! 

Ossaroo  communicated  this  information  in  an 
ominous  whisper,  at  the  same  instant  crouching 
forward  towards  the  main  trunk  of  the  banyan, 
and  beckoning  to  the  others  to  follow  him. 

Without  a  word  they  obeyed  the  sign,  and  all 


A  Tiger  Taken  by  Birdlime.  119 

three  climbed,  one  after  the  other,  up  tlie  trunk,  and 
silently  seated  themselves  among  the  brandies. 

By  looking  through  the  outer  screen  of  leaves, 
and  a  little  dov^rnward,  they  could  see  the  quarters 
of  venison  hanging  from  the  limb,  and  also  the 
whole  surface  of  the  ground  where  the  glittering 
leaves  were  spread. 

"Whether  the  haunch  which  the  tiger  had  stolen 
on  the  preceding  night  had  not  been  sufficient  for 
his  supper,  and  he  had  grown  hungry  again  before 
his  usual  feeding-time,  is  uncertain.  But  certain 
it  is  that  Ossaroo,  who  understood  well  the  habits 
of  this  striped  robber,  did  not  expect  him  to  return 
so  soon.  He  looked  for  him  after  darkness  should 
set  in.  But  the  loud  "purr-r-r  "  that  at  intervals 
came  booming  through  the  jungle,  and  each  time 
sounding  more  distinctly,  showed  that  the  great 
cat  was  upon  the  ground. 

All  at  once  they  espied  him  coming  out  of  the 
bushes,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  rivulet — his 
broad  whitish  throat  and  breast  shining  in  con- 
trast with  the  dark  green  foliage.  He  was  crouch- 
ing just  after  the  manner  of  a  house-cat  when 
making  her  approach  to  some  unwary  bird — his 
huo^e  paws  spread  before  him,  and  his  long  back 
hollowed  down — a  hideous  and  fearful  object  to 
behold.  His  eyes  appeared  to  flash  fire,  as  he 
bent  them  upon  the  tempting  joints  hanging  high 
up  on  the  branch  of  the  tree. 


120  A  Tiger  Taken  by  Birdlime. 

After  reconnoitering  a  little,  he  gathered  up  his 
long  back  into  a  curve,  vaulted  into  the  air,  and 
cleared  the  rivulet  from  bank  to  bank.  Then, 
without  further  pause,  he  trotted  nimbly  forward, 
and  stopped  directly  under  the  hanging  joints. 

Ossaroo  had  purposely  raised  the  meat  above  its 
former  elevation,  and  the  lowest  ends  of  the  joints 
were  full  twelve  feet  from  the  ground.  Although 
the  tiger  can  bound  to  a  very  great  distance  in  a 
horizontal  direction,  he  is  not  so  well  fitted  for 
springing  vertically  upwards,  and  therefore  the 
tempting  morsels  were  just  beyond  his  reach.  He 
seemed  to  be  somewhat  nonplussed  at  this — for 
upon  his  last  visit  he  had  found  things  rather  dif- 
ferent— but  after  regarding  the  joints  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two,  and  uttering  a  loud  suuff  of  discon- 
tent, he  flattened  his  paws  against  the  ground,  and 
sprang  high  into  the  air. 

The  attempt  was  a  failure.  He  came  back  to 
the  earth  without  having  touched  the  meat,  and 
expressed  his  dissatisfaction  by  an  angry  growl. 

In  another  moment,  he  made  a  second  spring  up- 
wards. This  time,  he  struck  one  of  the  quarters 
with  his  paw,  and  sent  it  swinging  backwards 
and  forwards,  though  it  had  been  secured  too  well 
to  the  branch  to  be  in  any  danger  of  falling. 

All  at  once,  the  attention  of  the  great  brute 
became  directed  to  a  circumstance  which  seemed 
to  puzzle  him  not  a  little.   He  noticed  that  there 


A  Tiger  Taken  by  BraDLiME.  121 

was  something  adhering  to  his  paws.  He  raised 
one  of  them  from  the  ground,  and  saw  that  two 
or  three  leaves  were  sticking  to  it.  What  could 
be  the  matter  with  the  leaves,  to  cling  to  his  soles 
in  that  manner  ?  They  appeared  to  be  wet,  but 
what  of  that  ?  He  had  never  known  wet  leaves 
stick  to  his  feet  any  more  than  dry  ones.  Perhaps 
it  was  this  had  hindered  him  from  springing  up 
as  high  as  he  had  intended  !  At  all  events,  he  did 
not  feel  quite  comfortable,  and  he  should  have 
the  leaves  off  before  he  attempted  to  leap  again. 
He  gave  his  paw  a  slight  shake,  but  the  leaves 
would  not  go.  He  shook  it  more  violently,  still 
the  leaves  adhered !  He  could  not  make  it  out. 
There  was  some  gummy  substance  upon  them, 
such  as  he  had  never  met  with  before  in  all  his 
travels.  He  had  rambled  over  many  a  bed  of  fig- 
leaves  in  his  day,  but  had  never  set  foot  upon  such 
sticky  leaves  as  these. 

Another  hard  shake-  of  the  paw  produced  no 
better  effect.  Still  stuck  fast  the  leaves,  as  if  they 
had  been  pitch  plasters ;  one  covering  the  whole 
surface  of  his  foot,  and  others  adhering  to  its 
edo-es.  Several  had  even  fastened  themselves  on 
his  ankles.     What  the  deuce  did  it  all  mean  ? 

As  shaking  the  paw  was  of  no  use,  he  next 
attempted  to  get  rid  of  them  by  the  only  other 
means  known  to  him;  that  was  by  rubbing 
them  off  against  his  cheeks  and  snout.     He  raised 


122  A  Tiger  Taken  by  BraDLiME. 

the  paw  to  liis  ears,  and  drew  it  along  the  side  of 
his  head.  He  succeeded  in  getting  most  of  them 
off  his  foot  in  this  way,  but  to  his  chagrin,  tliey  now 
adhered  to  his  head,  ears,  and  jaws,  where  they  felt 
still  more  uncomfortable  and  annoying.  These 
he  resolved  to  detach,  by  using  his  paw  upon 
them ;  but,  instead  of  doing  so,  he  only  added  to 
their  number,  for,  on  raising  his  foot,  he  found 
that  a  fresh  batch  of  the  sticky  leaves  had  fas- 
tened upon  it.  He  now  tried  the  other  foot,  with 
no  better  effect.  It,  too,  was  covered  with  gummy 
leaves,  that  only  became  detached  to  fasten  upon 
liis  jaws,  and  stick  there,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts 
to  tear  them  off.  Even  some  of  them  had  got 
over  his  eyes,  and  already  half-blinded  him ! 
But  one  way  remained  to  get  rid  of  the  leaves 
that  had  so  fastened  upon  his  head.  Every  time 
he  applied  his  paws,  it  only  made  things  worse. 
But  there  was  still  a  way  to  get  them  off — so  thought 
he — by  rubbing  his  head  along  the  ground. 

E'o  sooner  thought  of  than  done.  He  pressed 
his  jaws  down  to  the  earth,  and  using  his  hind 
legs  to  push  himself  along,  he  rubbed  hard  to  rid 
himself  of  the  annoyance.  He  then  turned  over, 
and  tried  the  same  method  with  the  other  side ; 
but,  after  continuing  at  this  for  some  moments, 
he  discovered  he  was  only  making  matters  worse ; 
in  fact,  he  found  that  both  his  eyes  were  now  com- 
pletely "  bunged  up,"  and  that  he  was  perfectly 


A  Tiger  Taken  by  Birdlime.  123 

blind !  He  felt,  moreover,  that  his  whole  head, 
as  well  as  his  body,  was  now  covered,  even  to  the 
tip  of  his  tail. 

By  this  time  he  had  lost  all  patience.  He 
thought  no  longer  of  the  venison.  He  thought 
only  of  freeing  himself  from  the  detestable  plight 
in  which  he  was  placed.  He  sprang  and  bounded 
over  the  ground  ;  now  rubbing  his  head  along  the 
surface  ;  now  scraping  it  with  his  huge  paws,  and 
ever  and  anon  dashins:  himself  a2:ains  the  stems 
of  tlie  trees  that  grew  around.  All  this  while,  his 
growling,  and  howling,  and  screaming,  filled  the 
woods  with  the  most  hideous  noises. 

Up  to  this  crisis,  our  travelers  had  watched 
his  every  movement,  a]l  of  them  bursting  with 
laughter;  to  which,  however,  they  dared  not  give 
utterance,  lest  they  might  spoil  the  sport.  At 
length,  Ossaroo  knew  that  the  time  was  come  for 
something  more  serious  than  laughter;  and  de- 
scending from  the  tree  with  his  long  spear,  he 
beckoned  the  others  to  follow  with  their  guns. 

The  shikarree  could  have  approached  and  thrust 
the  tiger,  without  much  danger ;  but,  to  make 
sure,  the  double-barrel,  already  loaded  with  ball, 
was  fired  at  him  along  with  Caspar's  rifle,  and  one 
of  the  bullets  striking  him  between  the  ribs,  put 
an  end  to  his  struggles  by  laying  him  out  upon 
the  grass  dead  as  a  herring. 

Upon  examining  him,  they  found  tliat  the  '^g- 


124  A  Tiger  Taken  by  Birdlime. 

leaves  so  covered  his  eyes,  as  to  render  liim  com- 
pletely blind.  What  prevented  him  from  scratch- 
ing them  off  with  his  huge  claws  was,  that  these 
were  so  wrapped  up  in  the  leafy  envelope  as  to 
render  them  perfectly  useless,  and  no  longer  dan- 
gerous, had  any  one  engaged  with  liim  in  close 
combat. 

I  have  already  said  that  there  are  many  parts  of 
India  where  the  people  live  in  great  fear  of  the 
tigers — as  well  as  lions,  wild  elephants,  panthers, 
and  rhinoceroses.  These  people  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  proper  fire-arms.  Some,  indeed,  carry  the 
clumsy  matchlock,  which,  of  course,  is  of  little  or 
no  service  in  hunting :  and  their  bows,  even  with 
poisoned  arrows,  are  but  poor  weapons  when  used 
in  an  encounter  with  these  strong  savage  beasts. 

Often  a  whole  village  is  kept  in  a  state  of  ter- 
ror for  weeks  or  months  by  a  single  tiger,  who 
may  have  made  his  lair  in  the  neighboriiood,  and 
whose  presence  is  known  by  his  repeated  forays 
upon  the  cows,  buffaloes,  or  other  domesticated 
animals  of  the  villagers.  It  is  only  after  this 
state  of  things  has  continued  for  a  length  of  time, 
and  much  loss  has  been  sustained,  that  these  poor 
people,  goaded  to  desperation,  at  length  assemble 
together,  and  risk  an  encounter  with  the  tawny 
tyrant.  In  such  encounters,  human  lives  are  fre- 
quently sacrificed,  and  generally  some  one  of  the 
party  receives  a  blow  or  scratch  from  the  tiger's 


A  Tiger  Taken  by  Birdlime.  135 

paw  which  maims  or  lames  him  for  the  rest  of 
his  days. 

But  there  is  still  a  worse  case  than  even  this. 
Not  nnfrequently  the  tiger,  instead  of  preying 
upon  their  cattle,  carries  off  one  of  the  natives 
thenicelves ;  and  where  this  occurs,  the  savage 
monster,  if  not  pursued  and  killed,  is  certain  to 
repeat  the  offense.  It  is  strange,  and  true  as 
strange,  that  a  tiger  having  once  fed  upon  human 
flesh,  appears  ever  after  to  be  fonder  of  it  than  of 
any  other  food,  and  will  make  the  most  daring  at- 
tempts to  procure  it.  Such  tigers  are  not  uncom- 
mon in  India,  where  they  are  known  among  the 
natives  by  the  dreaded  name  of  mcm-eaters! 

It  is  not  a  little  curious  that  the  Calf  res  and 
other  natives  of  South  Africa,  apply  the  same 
term  to  individuals  of  the  lion  species,  known  to 
be  imbued  with  a  similar  appetite. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  more  horrible  mon- 
ster than  a  lion  or  tiger  of  such  tastes ;  and  in 
India,  when  the  presence  of  such  an  one  is  dis- 
covered, the  whole  neighborhood  lives  in  dread. 
Often  when  a  British  post  is  near,  the  natives 
make  application  to  the  officers  to  assist  them  in  de- 
stroying the  terrible  creature — well  knowing  that 
our  countrymen,  with  their  superior  courage,  with 
their  elepliants  and  fine  rifles,  are  more  than  a 
match  for  the  jungle  tyrant.  When  no  such  help 
is  at  hand,  the    shikarrees,  or  native    hunters, 


126  A  Tiger  Taken  by  Birdlime. 

usually  assemble,  and  either  take  the  tiger  by 
stratagem,  or  risk  their  lives  in  a  bold  encounter. 
In  many  a  tiger-hunt  had  Ossaroo  distinguished 
himself,  both  by  stratagem  and  prowess,  and  there 
was  no  mode  of  trapping  or  killing  a  tiger  that 
was  not  known  to  him. 

He  was  now  called  upon  to  give  an  exhibition 
of  his  craft,  which,  in  point  of  ingenuity,  was  al- 
most equal  to  the  stratagem  of  the  limed  fig- 
leaves. 


ABOUT  TIGERS. 

THE  path  which  our  travelers  were  following 
led  them  into  one  of  the  native  villages  of 
the  Terai,  which  lay  in  a  sequestered  part  of  the 
forest.  The  inhabitants  of  this  village  received 
them  with  acclamations  of  joy.  Their  approach 
had  been  reported  before  they  reached  the  place, 
and  a  deputation  of  the  villagers  met  them  on  the 
way,  hailing  them  with  joyful  exclamations  and 
gestures  of  welcome. 

Karl  and  Casper,  ignorant  of  the  native  lan- 
guage, and,  of  course,  not  comprehending  what 
was  said,  were  for  some  time  at  a  loss  to  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  these  demonstrations.  Os- 
saroo  was  appealed  to  to  furnish  an  explanation. 

"  A  man-eater,"  he  said. 

"  A  man-eater !  " 

*'  Yes,  Sahib  ;  a  man-eater  in  the  jungle." 

This  was  not  sufficiently  explicit.  What  did 
Ossaroo  mean  ?  A  man-eater  in  the  jungle  ? 
What  sort  of  creature  was  that?  Neither  Karl 
nor  Casper  had  ever  heard  of  such  a  thing  before. 
They  questioned  Ossaroo. 

127 


128  About  Tigers. 

The  latter  explained  to  them  what  was  a  man- 
eater.  It  was  a  tiger,  so-called,  as  you  already 
know,  on  account  of  its  preying  upon  human  be- 
ings. This  one  had  already  killed  and  carried  off 
a  man,  a  woman,  and  two  children,  besides  large 
numbers  of  domestic  animals.  For  more  than 
three  months  it  had  infested  the  village,  and  kept 
the  inhabitants  in  a  state  of  constant  alarm.  In- 
deed, several  families  had  deserted  the  place  solely 
through  fear  of  this  terrible  tiger ;  and  those  that 
remained  were  in  the  habit,  as  soon  as  night  came 
on,  of  shutting  themselves  up  within  their  houses, 
without  darino^  to  stir  out  as^ain  till  mornino^.     In 

o  o  o 

the  instance  of  one  of  the  children,  even  this  pre- 
caution had  not  served,  for  the  tierce  tiger  had 
broken  through  the  frail  wall  of  bamboos,  and 
carried  the  child  off  before  the  eyes  of  its  afflicted 
parents  ! 

Several  times  the  timid  but  incensed  villagers 
had  assembled  and  endeavored  to  destroy  this  ter- 
rible enemy.  They  had  found  him  each  time  in 
his  lair;  but,  on  account  of  their  poor  weapons 
and  slight  skill  as  hunters,  he  had  always  been 
enabled  to  escape  from  them.  Indeed,  on  such 
occasions  the  tiger  was  sure  to  come  off"  victorious, 
for  it  was  in  one  of  these  hunts  that  the  man  had 
fallen  a  sacrifice.  Others  of  the  villagers  had 
been  wounded  in  the  different  conflicts  with  this 
pest  of  the  jungle.     With  such  a  neighbor  at  their 


About  Tigers.  129 

doors,  no  wonder  they  had  been  living  in  a  state 
of  disquietude  and  terror. 

But  why  their  joy  at  the  approach  of  our  trav- 
elers ? 

This  was  proudly  explained  by  Ossaroo,  w4io,  of 
course,  had  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  circumstance. 

It  appeared  that  the  fame  of  the  shikarree,  as 
a  great  tiger-hunter,  had  preceded  him,  and  his 
name  was  known  even  in  the  Terai.  The  villa- 
gers had  heard  that  he  was  approaching,  accom- 
panied by  two  Feringhees  (so  Em'opeans  are  called 
by  the  natives  of  India),  and  they  hoped,  by  the 
aid  of  the  noted  shikarree  and  the  Feringhee 
Sahibs,  to  get  rid  of  the  dreaded  marauder. 

Ossaroo,  thus  appealed  to,  at  once  gave  his 
promise  to  aid  them.  Of  course  the  botanist 
made  no  objection,  and  Caspar  was  delighted  v/itli 
the  idea.  They  were  to  remain  all  night  at  the 
village,  since  nothing  could  be  done  before  night. 
They  might  have  got  up  a  grand  battue  to  beat 
the  jungle  and  attack  the  tiger  in  his  lair,  but 
what  would  have  come  of  that  ?  Perhaps  the  loss 
of  more  lives.  Kone  of  the  villagers  cared  to  risk 
themselves  in  such  a  hunt,  and  that  was  not  the 
way  that  Ossaroo  killed  his  tigers. 

Karl  and  Caspar  expected  to  see  their  com^pan- 
ion  once  more  try  his  stratagem  of  the  birdlime 
and  the  leaves. 

Ossaroo  had  other  resources  besides  the  bird- 


130  About  Tigers. 

lime  and  the  battue,  and  he  at  once  set  to  work 
to  prepare  his  plan.  He  had  an  ample  stock  of 
attendants,  as  the  villagers  worked  eagerljj  and 
ran  hither  and  thither  obedient  to  his  nod.  In 
front  of  the  village  there  was  a  piece  of  open 
ground.     This  was  the  scene  of  operations. 

Ossaroo  iirst  commanded  four  large  posts  to  be 
brought,  and  set  in  the  ground  in  a  quadrangle  of 
about  eight  feet  in  length  and  width.  These 
posts  when  sunk  firmlj  in  their  place  stood  full 
eight  feet  in  height,  and  each  had  a  fork  at  the 
top.  On  these  forks  four  strong  beams  were 
placed  horizontally,  and  then  firmlj  lashed  with 
rawhide  thongs.  Deep  trenches  were  next  dug 
from  post  to  post,  and  in  these  were  planted  rows 
of  strong  bamboos  four  inches  apart  from  each 
other — the  bamboos  themselves  being  about  four 
inches  in  thickness.  The  earth  was  then  filled  in, 
and  trodden  firmly,  so  as  to  render  the  uprights 
immovable.  A  tier  of  similar  bamboos  was  next 
laid  horizontally  upon  the  top,  the  ends  of  which, 
interlocking  with  those  that  stood  upright,  held 
the  latter  in  their  places.  Both  were  securely 
lashed  to  the  frame  timbers — that  had  been 
notched  for  the  purpose — and  to  one  another,  and 
then  the  structure  was  complete.  It  resembled 
an  immense  cage  with  smooth  yellow  rods,  each 
four  inches  in  diameter.  The  door  alone  was 
wanting,  but  it  was  not  desirable  to  have  a  door. 


About  Tigers.  131 

Although  it  was  intended  for  a  "  trap  cage,"  the 
"  bird  "  for  which  it  had  been  constructed  was  not 
to  be  admitted  to  the  inside. 

Ossaroo  now  called  upon  the  villagers  to  provide 
him  with  a  goat  that  had  lately  had  kids,  and 
whose  young  were  still  living.  Tliis  was  easily 
procured.  Still  another  article  he  required,  but 
both  it  and  the  goat  had  been  "  bespoke "  at  an 
earlier  hour  of  the  day,  and  were  waiting  his 
orders.  This  last  was  the  skin  of  a  buffalo,  such 
a  one  as  we  have  already  seen  used  by  these  peo- 
ple in  crossing  their  rivers. 

When  all  these  things  had  been  got  ready  it 
was  near  night,  and  no  time  was  lost  in  waiting. 
With  the  help  of  the  villagers,  Ossaroo  was  speedily 
arrayed  in  the  skin  of  the  buffalo,  his  arms  and 
limbs  taking  the  place  of  animal's  legs,  with  the 
head  and  horns  drawn  over  him  like  a  hood,  so 
that  his  eyes  were  opposite  the  holes  in  the  skin. 

Thus  metamorphosed,  Ossaroo  entered  the  bam- 
boo cage,  taking  the  goat  along  with  him.  The 
stake,  that  had  been  kept  out  for  the  purpose  of 
admitting  them  within  the  enclosure,  was  now 
set  into  its  place  as  firmly  as  the  others ;  and  this 
done,  the  villagers,  with  Karl  and  Caspar,  retired 
to  their  houses,  and  left  the  shikarree  and  his  goat 
to  themselves. 

A  stranger  passing  the  spot  would  have  had  no 
other  thoughts  than  that  the  cage-like  enclosure 


132  About  Tigers. 

contained  a  bufialo  and  a  goat.  On  closer  exami- 
nation it  might  have  been  perceived  that  this 
buffalo  held,  grasped  iirmlj  in  its  fore-hoofs,  a 
strong  bamboo  spear;  and  that  was  all  that  ap- 
peared odd  ab'jut  it — for  it  was  lying  down  like 
any  other  buffalo,  with  the  goat  standing  beside  it- 

The  sun  had  set,  and  night  was  now  on.  The 
villagers  had  put  out  their  lights,  and,  shut  up 
within  their  houses,  were  waiting  in  breathless 
expectation.  Ossaroo  on  his  part,  was  equally 
anxious—not  from  the  fear  of  any  danger,  for  he 
had  secured  himself  against  that.  He  was  only 
anxious  for  the  approach  of  the  man-eater,  in 
order  that  he  might  have  the  opportunity  to  ex- 
hibit the  triumph  of  his  hunter-skill. 

He  was  not  likely  to  be  disappointed.  The 
villagers  had  assured  him  that  the  fierce  brute 
was  in  the  habit  of  paying  them  a  nightly  visit, 
and  prowling  around  tlie  place  for  hours  together. 
It  was  only  when  he  had  succeeded  in  carrying 
off  some  of  their  cattle  that  he  would  be  absent 
for  days — no  doubt  his  hunger  being  for  the  time 
satiated  ;  but  as  he  had  not  lately  made  a  capture, 
they  looked  for  a  visit  from  him  that  very  night. 

If  the  tiger  should  come  near  the  village,  Ossa- 
roo had  no  fear  that  he  could  attract  him  to  the 
spot.  He  had  laid  his  decoy  too  well  to  fail  in 
this.  The  goat,  deprived  of  her  young,  kept  up 
an  incessant  bleating,  and  the  kids  answered  her 


About  Tigers.  133 

from  one  of  the  houses  of  the  village.  As  the 
hunter  knew  from  experience  that  the  tiger  lias  a 
particular  relish  for  goat-venison,  he  had  no  fear 
but  that  the  voice  of  the  animal  would  attract  him 
to  the  spot,  provided  he  came  near  enough  to  hear 
it.  In  this  the  villagers  assured  him  he  would  not 
be  disappointed. 

He  was  not  disappointed  ;  neither  was  he  kept 
long  in  suspense.  He  had  not  been  more  than 
half  an  hour  in  his  buffalo  disguise,  before  a  loud 
growling  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  announced  the 
approach  of  the  dreaded  man-eater,  and  caused  the 
goat  to  spring  wildly  about  in  the  in  closure,  ut- 
tering at  intervals  the  most  piercing  cries. 

This  was  just  what  Ossaroo  wanted.  The  tiger, 
hearing  the  voice  of  the  goat,  needed  no  further 
invitation  ;  but  in  a  few  moments  was  seen  trot- 
ting boldly  up  to  the  spot.  There  was  no  crouch- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  terrible  brute.  He  had 
been  too  long  master  there  to  fear  anything  he 
might  encounter,  and  he  stood  in  need  of  a  sup- 
per. The  goat  that  he  had  heard  would  be  just 
the  dish  he  should  relish  ;  and  he  had  determined 
on  laying  his  claws  upon  her  without  moi'e  ado. 
In  another  moment  he  stood  within  ten  feet  of 
the  cage ! 

The  odd-looking  structure  puzzled  him,  and  he 
halted  to  survey  it.  Fortunately  there  was  a 
moon,  and  the  light  not  only  enabled  the  tiger  to 


134  About  Tigers. 

see  what  the  cage  contained,  but  it  also  gave 
Ossaroo  an  opportunity  of  watching  all  his  move- 
ments. 

*'0f  course,"  thought  the  tiger,  ^'it's  an  in- 
closure  some  of  these  simple  villagers  have  put 
up  to  keep  that  goat  and  buffalo  from  straying  oif 
into  the  woods ;  likely  enough,  too,  to  keep  me 
from  getting  at  them.  Well,  they  appear  to  have 
been  very  particular  about  the  building  of  it. 
We  shall  see  if  they  have  made  the  walls  strong 
enough." 

With  these  reflections  he  drew  near,  and  rear- 
ing upward  caught  one  of  the  bamboos  in  his 
huge  paw,  and  shook  it  with  violence.  The  cane, 
strong  as  a  bar  of  iron,  refused  to  yield  even  to 
the  strength  of  a  tiger ;  and,  on  finding  this,  the 
fierce  brute  ran  rapidly  round  the  inclosure,  try- 
ing it  at  various  places,  and  searching  for  an  en- 
trance. 

There  was  no  entrance,  however ;  and  on  per- 
ceiving that  there  was  none,  the  tiger  endeavored 
to  get  at  the  goat  by  inserting  his  paws  between 
the  bamboos.  The  goat,  however,  ran  frightened 
and  screaming  to  the  opposite  side,  and  so  kept 
out  of  the  way.  It  would  have  served  the  tio^er 
equally  well  to  have  laid  his  claws  upon  the  buf- 
falo, but  this  animal  very  prudently  remained 
near  the  center  of  the  inclosure,  and  did  not  ap- 
pear to  be  so  badly  scared  withal.    No  doubt  the 


About  Tigers.  135 

coolness  of  the  buffiilo  somewhat  astonished  tlie 
tiger,  but  in  his  endeavors  to  capture  the  goat,  he 
did  not  stop  to  show  his  surprise,  but  ran  round 
and  round,  now  dashing  forcibly  against  the  bam- 
boos, and  now  reaching  his  paws  between  them 
as  far  as  his  fore-legs  would  stretch. 

All  at  once  the  buffalo  was  seen  to  rush  toward 
him,  and  the  tiger  was  in  great  hopes  of  being 
able  to  reach  the  latter  with  his  claws,  when,  to 
his  astonishment,  he  felt  some  hard  instrument 
strike  sharply  against  his  snout,  and  rattle  upon 
his  teeth,  while  the  fire  flew  from  his  eyes  at  the 
concussion.  Of  course  it  was  the  Tioryi  of  the 
buffalo  that  had  done  this ;  and  now,  renderd  fu- 
rious by  the  pain,  the  tiger  forgot  all  about  the 
^oat,  and  turned  his  attention  toward  revenging 
himself  upon  the  animal  who  had  wounded  him. 
Several  times  he  launched  himself  savagely  against 
the  bamboos,  but  the  canes  resisted  all  his  strength. 
Just  then  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  effect 
an  entrance  by  the  top,  and  with  one  bound  he 
sprang  upon  the  roof  of  the  inclosure.  This  was 
just  what  the  buffalo  wished,  and  the  broad  white 
belly  of  his  assailant,  stretched  along  the  open 
framework  of  bamboos,  was  now  a  fair  mark  for 
that  terrible  horn.  Like  a  gleam  of  lightning  it 
entered  between  his  ribs ;  the  red  blood  spouted 
forth,  the  huge  man-eater  screamed  fiercely  as  he 
felt  the  deadly  stab,  and  then,  struggling  for  a 


136  About  Tigers. 

few  minutes,    his  enormous  body  lay  stretched 
across  tke  rack,  silent — motionless — dead  ! 

A  signal  whistle  from  Ossaroo  soon  brought 
the  villagers  upon  the  spot.  The  shikarree  and 
the  goat  were  set  free.  The  carcass  of  the  man- 
eater  was  dragged  into  the  middle  of  the  village 
amidst  shouts  of  triumph,  and  the  rest  of  the 
night  was  devoted  to  feasting  and  rejoicing.  The 
"freedom  of  the  city"  was  offered  to  Ossaroo 
and  his  companions,  and  every  hospitality  lav- 
ished upon  them  that  the  grateful  inhabitants 
knew  how  to  bestow. 


IMS 

ADVENTURES    OF   A   DOO, 

AND  A  GOOD  DOG  TOO. 
BY   ALFRED   KLWE8. 


PREFACE. 

ILOYE  dogs.  Who  does  not?  It  is  a  natural 
feeling  to  love  those  who  love  us;  and  doga 
were  always  fond  of  me.  Thousands  can  say  the 
same ;  and  I  shall  therefore  find  plenty  of  sympa- 
thy while  unfolding  my  dog's  tale. 

This  attachment  of  mine  to  the  canine  family  in 
general,  and  their  affection  towards  myself,  have 
induced  me,  like  the  Yizier  in  the  "Arabian 
Nights,"  of  happy  memory,  to  devote  some  time  to 
the  study  of  their  language.  Its  idiom  is  not  so 
difficult  as  many  would  suppose.  There  is  a  sim- 
plicity about  it  that  often  shames  the  dialects  of 
man ;  which  have  been  so  altered  and  refined,  that 
we  discover  people  o^ien  saying  one  thing  when 
137 


138  The  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

they  mean  exactly  the  reverse.  Nothing  of  the  sort 
is  visible  in  the  great  canine  tongue.  Whether  the 
tone  in  which  it  is  uttered  be  gruff  or  polished; 
sharp  or  insinuating,  it  is  at  least  sincere.  Mankind 
would  often  be  puzzled  how  to  use  it. 

Like  many  others,  its  meaning  is  assisted  by  ges- 
tures of  the  body,  and,  above  all,  by  the  expression 
of  the  eye.  If  ever  language  had  its  seat  in  that 
organ,  as  phrenologists  pretend,  it  lies  in  the  eye 
of  the  dog.  Yet,  a  good  portion  finds  its  way  to 
his  tail.  The  motion  of  that  eloquent  member  is 
full  of  meaning.  There  is  a  slow  wag  of  anger ; 
the  gentle  wag  of  contentment ;  the  brisker  wag  of 
joy :  and  what  can  be  more  mutely  expressive  than 
the  limp  states  of  sorrow,  humility,  and  fear. 

If  the  tongue  of  the  dog  present  such  distinctive 
triiits,  the  qualities  of  the  animal  himself  are  not 
less  striking.  Although  the  dispositions  of  dogs 
are  as  various  as  their  forms — although  education, 
connexions,  the  society  they  keep,  have  all  their 
influence — to  the  credit  of  their  name  be  it  said,  h 
dog  never  sullies  his  mouth  with  an  untruth.  His 
emotions  of  pleasure  are  genuine;  never  forced. 
His  grief  is  not  the  semblance  of  woe,  but  comes 
from  the  heart.  His  devotion  is  unmixed  with 
other  feelings.  It  is  single,  unselfish,  profound. 
Prosperity  affects  it  not ;  adversity  cannot  make  it 
swerve.  Ingratitude,  that  saddest  of  human  vices, 
•8  unknown  to  the  dog.  He  does  not  forget  past 
favours,  but,  when  attached  by  benefits  received, 
his  love  endures  through  life.  But  I  shall  have 
never  done  with  reciting  the  praises  of  this  noble 


Preface.  139 

animal ;  tlie  subject  is  inexhaustible.     My  purpose 
now  has  narrower  limits. 

From  the  archives  of  the  city  of  Caneville,  1 
lately  drew  the  materials  of  a  Bear's  Biography. 
From  the  same  source  I  now  derive  my  "  Adven 
tares  of  a  Dog."  My  task  has  been  less  that  of  f 
composer  than  a  translator,  for  a  feline  editress,  a 
Miss  Minette  Gattina,  had  already  performed  her 
part.  This  latter  animal  appears,  however,  to  have 
been  so  learned  a  cat — one  may  say  so  deep  a  puss 
— that  she  had  furnished  more  notes  than  there  was 
original  matter.  Another  peculiarity  which  dis- 
tinguished her  labours  was  the  obscurity  of  her 
style;  I  call  it  a  peculiarity,  and  not  a  defect,  be- 
cause I  am  not  quite  certain  whether  the  difficulty 
of  getting  at  her  meaning  lay  in  her  mode  of  ex- 
pressing herself  or  my  deficiency  in  the  delicacies 
of  her  language.  I  think  myself  a  tolerable  linguist, 
yet  have  too  great  a  respect  for  puss  to  say  that 
any  fault  is  attributable  to  her. 

This  same  feeling  has,  naturally,  made  me  care- 
ful in  rendering  those  portions  which  were  exclu- 
sively her  own.  I  have  preferred  letting  her  say 
little  to  allowing  her  to  express  anything  she  did 
not  intend  Her  notes,  which,  doubtless,  drew 
many  a  purr  of  approval  from  her  own  breast,  and 
many  a  wag  of  approbation  from  the  tails  of  her 
choice  acquaintance,  I  have  preferred  leaving  out 
altogether;  and  I  have  so  curtailed  the  labours  of  her 
paw,  and  the  workings  of  her  brain,  as  to  condense 
into  half-a-dozen  pages  her  little  volume  of  intro- 
duction    The  autobiography  itself,  most  luckily, 


140 


Adventures  of  a  Dog. 


required  no  alteration.  It  is  the  work  of  a  simple 
mind,  detailing  the  events  of  a  simple  but  not  un- 
eventful life.  Whether  I  have  succeeded  in  con- 
veying to  my  readers'  intelligence  the  impression 
which  this  Dog's  Adventures  made  on  mine,  thej 
alone  can  decide. 


ADVENTURES    OF   A   DOG, 


INTRODUCTION. 

BT  loss  MINETTB  eATTlITA. 


JT  may  seem  peculiar  to  any  but  an  inhabitant 
of  this  renowned  city  of  Caneville,  that  one  of 
our  nation  should  venture  on  the  task  of  bringing 
to  the  notice  of  the  world  the  memoir  I  have  under- 
taken to  edit.  But,  besides  that  in  this  favoured 
place  animals  of  all  kinds  learn  to  dwell  in  tolerable 
harmony  together,  the  subject  of  this  biography 
had  so  endeared  himself  to  all  classes  and  to  every 
tribe  by  his  kindness  of  heart,  noble  devotion,  and 
other  dog-like  qualities,  that  there  was  not  a  cat, 
in  spite  of  the  supposed  natural  antipathy  existing 
between  the  great  feline  and  canine  races,  who 
would  not  have  set  up  her  back  and  fought  to  the 
last  gasp  in  defence  of  this  dear  old  fellow. 

Many  a  time  has  he  saved  me  from  the  rough 
treatment  of  rude  and  ill-conducted  curs,  when  1 
have  been  returning  from  a  concert,  or  tripping 
quietly  home  after  a  pleasant  chat  with  a  friend. 
Often  and  often,  when  a  kitten,  has  he  carried  rae 


142  The  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

on  his  back  througli  the  streets,  in  order  that  1 
might  not  wet  my  velvet  slippers  on  a  rainy  day : 
and  once,  ah  I  well  do  I  remember  it,  he  did  me 
even  greater  service ;  for  a  wicked  Tom  of  our  race, 
who  had  often  annoyed  me  with  his  attentions,  had 
actually  formed  a  plan  of  carrying  me  off  to  some 
foreign  land,  and  would  have  succeeded  too,  if  dear 
Doggy  had  not  got  scent  of  the  affair,  and  pounced 
on  that  treacherous  Tom  just  as  he  was  on  the 
point  of  executing  his  odious  project. 

I  can  speak  of  these  things  now  without  the 
slightest  fear  of  being  accused  of  vanity.  If  I  say 
my  eyes  were  beautifully  round  and  green,  they 
are  so  no  longer.  If  I  boast  of  the  former  lightness 
of  my  step,  it  drags,  alas !  but  too  heavily  now. 
If  I  dwell  on  the  sweetness  of  my  voice  and  melody 
of  my  purr  at  one  period,  little  can  be  said  in  their 
favour  at  the  present  day,  and  I  feel,  therefore,  less 
scruple  in  dilating  on  the  elegance  of  my  figure, 
and  the  taste  of  my  toilette,  as,  when  speaking  of 
them,  I  seem  to  be  referring  to  another  individual 
Puss,  with  whom  the  actual  snuffy  old  Tabby  has 
little  OT  no  connection. 

But,  it  will  be  said,  these  last  matters  have  not 
aiuch  to  do  with  the  object  I  have  in  hand.  I  must 
not  attempt  to  palm  off  on  my  readers  any  adven- 
tures of  my  own  under  the  shadow  of  a  dog.  I 
must  rather  allow  my  Cat'spaw  to  perform  the 
office  for  which  it  has  become  noted,  namely,  that 
of  aiding  in  the  recovery  of  what  its  owner  is  not 
intended  to  participate.  I  must  endeavour  to  place 
before  the  world  of  Caneville,  to  be  thence  trans 


Introduction.  143 

micted  to  the  less  civilized  portions  of  the  globe, 
those  incidents  in  our  Dog^s  life  which  he  has  been 
too  modest  to  relate  himself,  in  order  that  after- 
generations  may  fully  appreciate  all  the  goodness 
of  his  character.  To  greatness^  he  had  no  preten- 
sion, although  few  animals  are  aware  how  close  is 
the  relation  between  these  two  qualities. 

I  think  I  see  the  dear  old  Dog  now,  as  it  has 
been  often  my  privilege  to  behold  him,  seated  in 
his  large  arm-chair,  his  hair  quite  silvered  with  age, 
Bhading  his  thoughtful,  yet  kindly  face,  his  pipe  in 
his  paw,  his  faithful  old  friend  by  his  side,  and 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  attentive  listeners  of 
both  sexes,  who  seemed  to  hang  upon  every  word 
of  wisdom  as  it  dropped  from  his  mouth ;  all 
these  spring  to  my  mind  when  I  recal  his  image, 
and  if  I  were  a  painter  I  think  I  should  have  no 
difficulty  in  presenting  to  my  readers  this  pleasant 
"family  party."  The  very  room  in  which  these 
meetings  were  held  comes  as  strongly  to  my  recol- 
lection as  the  various  young  and  old  dogs  who 
were  wont  to  assemble  there.  Plainly  furnished, 
it  yet  boasted  some  articles  of  luxury ;  works  of 
statuary  and  painting,  presented  to  old  Job  by 
those  who  admired  his  goodness,  or  had  been  the 
objects  of  his  devotion. 

One  of  these,  a  statuette  representing  a  fast  little 
dog  upon  a  tasteful  pedestal,  used  often  to  excite 
my  curiosity,  the  more  because  Job  showed  no  in- 
clination to  gratify  it.  I  managed,  however,  at 
last  to  get  at  the  incident  which  made  Job  the  pos- 
sessor of  this  comical  little  figure,  and  as  the  cir- 


144  The  Adventures  of  a  Doo. 

cumstance  worthily  illustrates  his  character,  1  will 
relate  it  as  the  anecdote  was  told  to  me. 

It  was  once  a  fashion  in  Caneville,  encouraged 
by  puppies  of  the  superior  classes,  to  indulge  in 
habits  of  so  strange  a  nature  as  to  meet  on  stated 
occasions  for  the  express  purpose  of  trying  their 
skill  and  strength  in  set  combats ;  and  although 
the  most  frightful  consequences  often  ensued,  these 
assemblies  were  still  held  until  put  down  by  the 
sharp  tooth  of  the  law.  The  results  which  ensued 
were  not  merely  dangerous  to  life,  but  created  such 
a  quarrelsome  disposition,  that  many  of  these  dogs 
were  never  happy  but  when  fighting ;  and  the 
force  granted  them  by  nature  for  self-defence  was 
too  often  used  most  wantonly  to  the  annoyance  of 
their  neighbours.  It  one  day  happened  that  Job 
was  sitting  quietly  on  a  steep  bank  of  the  river 
where  it  runs  into  the  wood  at  some  distance  from 
the  city,  at  one  moment  watching  the  birds  as  they 
skimmed  over  the  water,  at  another  following  the 
movements  of  a  large  fish,  just  distinguishable  from 
the  height,  as  it  rose  at  the  flies  that  dropped  upon 
the  stream ;  when  three  dogs,  among  the  most  cele- 
brated fighters  of  the  time,  passed  by  that  way. 
Two  of  them  were  of  the  common  class,  about  the 
size  and  weight  of  Job ;  the  other  was  a  young 
puppy  of  good  family,  whose  tastes  had  unfortu- 
nately led  him  into  such  low  society.  Seeing  the 
mild  expression  of  Job's  face,  and  confident  in 
their  own  prowess,  they  resolved  to  amuse  them- 
selves at  his  expense,  and  to  this  end  drew  near  to 
him.     Unobserved  by  their  intended  victim,  with 


Introduction.  145 

a  rapid  motion  they  endeavoured  to  push  him  head 
foremost  into  the  river,  Master  Puppy  having  dex- 
terously seized  hold  of  his  tail  to  make  the  somer- 
sault more  complete.  Job,  although  thus  unex- 
pectedly set  upon  from  behind,  was  enabled,  by 
the  exertion  of  great  strength,  to  defeat  the  object 
of  his  assailants.  In  the  sti'uggle  which  ensued, 
his  adversaries  discovered  that,  in  spite  of  their 
boasted  skill,  they  had  more  than  found  their 
match.  One  of  them  got  rolled  over  into  the 
stream,  out  of  which  he  managed  to  crawl  with 
considerable  difficulty  half  a  mile  lower  down  ;  the 
second  took  to  his  heels,  with  his  coat  torn,  and  his 
person  otherwise  disordered ;  and  the  fashionable 
Pup,  to  his  great  horror,  found  himself  seized  in 
the  formidable  jaws  of  the  unoffending  but  now 
angry  dog.  Imagine  how  much  his  terror  was  in- 
creased when  Job,  carrying  him,  as  I  would  a 
mouse,  to  the  edge  of  the  precipitous  bank,  held 
him  sheer  over  the  roaring  river.  The  poor  fellow 
could  not  swim,  and  he  had  a  perfect  antipathy  to 
the  water,  and  he  felt  himself  at  that  moment  on 
the  point  of  being  consigned  to  certain  death  with- 
out a  chance  of  safety.  But  he  did  not  know  the 
noble  heart  of  the  animal  he  had  offended.  Job 
let  him  feel  for  a  few  dreadful  seconds  the  danger 
to  which  he  had  been  so  thoughtlessly  and  in  joke 
about  to  consign  himself,  and  then  placed  him  in 
safety  on  the  bank,  with  the  admonition  to  reflect 
for  ths  future  on  the  probable  result  of  his  diver- 
eions  before  he  indulged  in  them,  and  to  consider 
whethsr,  although  amusing  to  himself,  such  gamea 


146  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

might  not  be  fatal  to  the  animals  on  whom  thej 
were  played  off.  The  shivering  puj)py  was  too 
much  alarmed  at  the  time  to  attend  either  to  the 
magnanimity  of  his  antagonist  or  to  the  wisdom  of 
his  advice,  but  they  were  evidently  not  lost  upon 
him.  Many  can  bear  testimony  to  the  change 
which  that  hour  wrought  in  his  character;  and 
some  weeks  after  the  event,  Job  received  that 
statue  of  his  little  adversary,  which  had  so  often 
struck  me,  executed  by  a  native  artist,  with  a  long 
letter  in  verse,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  doggrel ; 
indeed,  gifts  both  equally  creditable  to  the  sculptor 
and  the  writer,  and  most  honourable  to  the  animal 
in  whose  favour  they  had  been  executed. 

My  task  will  scarce  be  thought  complete  without 
a  few  words  concerning  the  personal  appearance  of 
my  old  friend;  although,  perhaps,  few  things  could 
be  more  difficult  for  me  to  describe.  Dogs  and 
cats  are  apt  to  admire  such  very  different  forms  of 
beauty,  that  the  former  often  call  beautiful  what 
we  think  just  the  reverse.  He  was  tall,  strong, 
and  rather  stout,  with  a  large  bushy  tail,  which 
waved  with  every  emotion  of  his  mind,  for  he 
rarely  disguised  his  feelings.  His  features  were 
considered  regular,  though  large,  his  eyes  being 
particularly  bright  and  full,  and  the  upper  part  of 
his  head  was  broad  and  high. 

But  none  who  knew  Job  ever  thought  of  his  be- 
ing handso4:ne  or  otherwise.  You  seemed  to  love 
him  for  something  more  than  you  could  see,  some- 
thing which  had  little  to  do  with  the  face,  or  body, 
or  tail,  and  yet  appeared  in  them  all,  and  shone 


Early  Days.  147 

clearly  out  of  his  eyes ;  I  mean  the  spirit  of  good- 
ness, which  made  him  so  remarkable,  and  was  so 
much  a  part  of  Job,  that  I  do  believe  a  lock  of  hia 
hair  worn  near  one's  own  heart  would  help  to  make 
it  beat  more  kindly  to  one's  fellow  creatures.  This 
idea  may  be  considered  too  fanciful,  too  cat-like, 
but  I  believe  it  notwithstanding. 

Such  was  the  Dog  whose  autobiography  I  have 
great  pleasure  in  presenting  to  the  world.  Many 
may  object  to  the  unpolished  style  in  which  his 
memoirs  are  clothed,  but  all  who  knew  him  will 
easily  pardon  every  want  of  elegance  in  his  lan- 
guage ;  and  those  who  had  not  the  honour  of  his 
acquaintance,  will  learn  to  appreciate  his  character 
from  the  plain  spirit  of  truth  which  breathes  in 
every  line  he  wrote.  I  again  affirm  that  I  need 
make  no  apology  for  attaching  my  name  to  that  of 
one  so  worthy  the  esteem  of  his  co-dogs,  ay,  and 
co-cats  too ;  for  in  spite  of  the  differences  which 
have  so  often  raised  up  a  barrier  between  the  mem- 
bers of  his  race  and  ours,  not  even  the  noblest 
among  us  could  be  degraded  by  raising  a  "  mew'* 
to  the  honour  of  such  a  thoroughly  honest  dog. 


EARLY  DATS. 


T  WAS  not  born  in  this  city  of  Caneville,  but  WM 
-*-  brought  here  at  so  young  an  age,  that  I  have  no 
recollection  of  any  other  place.    I  do  not  reraembei 


148  Adventukes  of  a  Dog. 

either  my  father  or  my  mother.  An  old  doggess,* 
who  was  the  only  creature  I  can  recall  to  mind 
when  I  was  a  pup,  took  care  of  me.  At  least  she 
said  she  did.  But  from  what  I  recollect,  I  had  to 
take  most  care  of  myself.  It  was  from  her  I  learnt 
what  I  know  about  my  parents.  She  has  told  me 
that  my  father  was  a  foreign  dog  of  high  rank, 
from  a  country  many,  many  miles  away,  called 
Newfoundland,  and  that  my  mother  was  a  member 
of  the  Mastiff  family.  But  how  I  came  to  be  un- 
der the  care  of  herself,  and  how  it  happened,  if  my 
parents  were  such  superior  animals,  that  I  should 
be  forced  to  be  so  poor  and  dirty,  I  cannot  tell.  I 
have  sometimes  ventured  to  ask  her,  but  as  she 
always  replied  with  a  snarl  or  a  bite,  I  soon  got 
tired  of  putting  any  questions  to  her.  I  do  not 
think  she  was  a  very  good  temper ;  but  I  should 
not  like  to  say  so  positively,  because  I  was  still 
young  when  she  died,  and  perhaps  the  blows  she 
gave  me,  and  the  bites  she  inflicted,  were  only  in- 
tended for  my  good ;  though  I  did  not  think  so  at 
the  time. 

As  we  were  very  poor,  we  were  forced  to  live  in 
a  wretched  kennel  in  the  dampest  part  of  the  town 
among  dogs  no  better  off  than  ourselves.  The 
place  we  occupied  overhung  the  water,  and  one 
day  when  the  old  doggess  was  punishing  me  for 
something  I  had  done,  the  corner  in  which  I  was 
crouched  being  very  rotten,  gave  way,  and  I  fell 
plump  into  the  river.     I  had  never  been  in  the 

•  I  have  preferred  adopting  this  word  in  speaking  of  femal« 
doga  as  it  comes  nearer  to  the  original,  zaiyen. 


Early  Days.  149 

water  before,  and  I  was  very  frightened,  for  the 
Btreani  was  so  rapid,  that  it  carried  me  off  and  past 
the  kennels  I  knew,  in  an  instant,  I  opened  mj 
mouth  to  call  out  for  help,  but  as  I  was  almost 
choked  with  the  water  that  got  into  it,  I  shut  it 
again,  and  made  an  effort  to  reach  the  land.  To 
my  surprise,  I  found,  that  by  moving  my  paws 
and  legs,  I  not  only  got  my  head  well  above  the 
water,  but  was  able  to  guide  myself  to  the  bank, 
on  to  which  I  at  length  dragged  myself,  very  tired 
and  out  of  breath,  but  quite  recovered  from  my 
fear.  I  ran  over  the  grass  towards  the  town,  as 
fast  as  T  could,  stopping  now  and  then  to  shake  my 
coat,  which  was  not  so  wet,  however,  as  you  would 
suppose,  but  before  I  had  got  half  way  home  I  met 
the  doggess,  hopping  along,  with  her  tongue  out 
of  her  mouth,  panting  for  breath,  she  having  run 
all  the  way  from  the  kennel,  out  of  which  I  had 
popped  so  suddenly,  along  the  bank,  with  the  hope 
of  picking  me  up  somewhere.  She  knew,  she  said, 
that  I  should  never  be  drowned.  But  how  she 
couIdkno^Y  that  was  more  than  I  could  then  imagine. 
When  we  met,  after  I  had  escaped  so  great  a 
danger,  I  flew  to  her  paws,  in  the  hope  of  getting 
a  tender  lick  ;  but  as  soon  as  she  recovered  breath, 
she  caught  hold  of  one  of  my  ears  with  her  teeth, 
and  bit  it  till  I  howled  with  pain,  and  then  set  off 
i*unning  with  me  at  a  pace  which  I  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  keep  up  with.  I  remember  at  the  time 
thinking  it  was  not  very  kind  of  her,  but  I  have 
Bince  reflected  that  perhaps  she  only  did  it  to 
brighten  me  tip  and  prevent  me  taking  cold. 
13* 


160  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

This  was  my  first  adventure,  and  a.so  my  firsj 
acquaintance  with  the  water.  From  that  day  I 
often  ventured  into  the  river,  and  in  the  end  be- 
came so  good  a  swimmer,  that  there  were  few  doga 
in  Caneville  who  could  surpass  me  in  strength  and 
dexterity  afloat. 

Many  moons  came  and  passed  away,  and  I  was 
getting  a  big  dog.  My  appetite  grew  with  my 
size,  and  as  there  was  little  to  eat  at  home,  I  was 
forced  to  wander  through  the  streets  to  look  after 
stray  bones ;  but  I  was  not  the  only  animal  em- 
ployed thus  hunting  for  a  livelihood,  and  the  bits 
scattered  about  the  streets  being  very  few  and 
small,  some  of  us,  as  may  be  imagined,  got  scanty 
dinners.  There  was  such  quarrelling  and  fighting 
also  for  the  possession  of  every  morsel,  that  if  you 
were  not  willing  to  let  go  any  piece  you  had  seized 
upon,  you  were  certain  to  have  half-a-dozen  curs 
upon  your  back  to  force  you  to  do  so,  and  the  poor 
weakly  dog,  whose  only  hope  of  a  meal  lay  in  what 
he  might  pick  up,  ran  a  sad  chance  of  being 
starved. 

One  of  the  fiercest  fights  I  have  ever  been  en- 
gaged in  occurred  upon  one  of  these  occasions.  I 
had  had  no  breakfast,  and  it  was  already  past  the 
hour  when  the  rich  dogs  of  Caneville  were  used  to 
dine.  Hungry  and  disconsolate,  I  was  trotting 
slowly  past  a  large  house,  when  a  side-door  opened, 
and  a  servant  jerked  a  piece  of  meat  into  the  road. 
In  the  greatest  joy  I  bounced  upon  the  prize,  but 
not  so  quickly  but  that  two  ragged  curs,  who  were 
no  doubt  as  hungry  as  myself,  managed  to  rush  to 


Early  Days.  151 

tlie  sjiot  in  time  to  get  hold  of  the  other  end  of  it. 
Then  came  a  struggle  for  the  dainty,  and  those  who 
do  not  know  how  hard  dogs  will  fight  for  the^'r 
dinner,  when  they  have  had  no  breakfast,  shouid 
have  been  there  to  learn  the  lesson.  After  giving 
and  receiving  many  severe  bites,  the  two  dogs 
walked  off, — perhaps  they  did  not  think  the  meat 
was  worth  the  trouble  of  contending  for  any  longer 
— and  I  was  left  to  enjoy  my  meal  in  peace.  I 
had  scarcely,  however,  squatted  down,  with  the 
morsel  between  my  paws,  than  a  miserable  little 
puppy,  who  seemed  as  if  he  had  had  neither  din- 
ner nor  breakfast  for  the  last  week,  came  and  sat 
himself  at  a  little  distance  from  me,  and  without 
saying  a  word,  brushed  the  pebbles  about  with  his 
ragged  tail,  licked  his  chops,  and  blinked  his  little 
eyes  at  me  so  hopefully,  that,  hungry  as  I  was,  I 
could  not  begin  my  meat.  As  I  looked  at  him,  I 
observed  two  tears  gather  at  the  side  of  his  nose, 
and  grow  bigger  and  bigger  until  they  would  nc 
longer  stop  there,  but  tumbled  on  to  the  ground. 
I  could  bear  it  no  longer.  I  do  not  know  even 
now  what  ailed  me  ;  but  my  own  eyes  grew  so  dim, 
that  there  seemed  a  mist  before  them  which  pre 
vented  my  seeing  anything  plainly.  I  started  up, 
and,  pushing  to  the  poor  whelp  the  piece  of  meat 
which  had  cost  me  three  new  rents  in  my  coat  and 
a  split  ear,  I  trotted  slowly  away.  I  stopped  at 
the  corner  to  see  whether  he  appeared  to  enjoy  it, 
and  partly  to  watch  that  no  other  dog  should  take 
It  from  him.  The  road  was  quite  clear,  and  the 
poor  pup  quite  lost  in  the  unusual  treat  of  a  good 


15^  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

meal,  so  I  took  my  way  "homewards,  witli  an  empty 
stomach  but  a  full  heart.  I  was  so  pleased  to  see 
that  little  fellow  enjoy  his  dinner  so  thoroughly. 

This  sort  of  life,  wherein  one  was  compelled 
either  to  fight  for  every  bit  one  could  get  to  eat  or 
go  without  food  altogether,  became  at  hist  so  tire- 
some to  me  that  I  set  about  for  some  other  means 
of  providing  for  my  wants.  I  could  not  undei^ 
stand  how  the  old  doggess  used  to  manage,  but 
though  she  never  had  anything  to  give  me,  she  did 
not  seem  to  be  without  food  herself  She  was  get- 
ting so  much  more  cross  and  quarrelsome,  perhaps 
on  account  of  her  age  and  infirmities,  that  I  now 
saw  but  little  of  her,  as  I  often,  on  a  fine  night, 
preferred  curling  myself  up  under  a  doorway  or 
beneath  a  tree,  to  returning  to  the  kennel  and 
listening  to  her  feeble  growls.  She  never  seemed 
to  want  me  there,  so  I  had  less  difficulty  in  keep- 
ing away  from  her. 

Chance  assisted  me  in  the  choice  of  my  new  at- 
tempt at  getting  a  livmg.  I  was  walking  along  one  of 
the  narrow  streets  of  Oaneville  when  I  was  stopped 
by  an  old  dog,  who  was  known  to  be  very  rich 
and  very  miserly.  He  had  lately  invented  a  novel 
kind  of  match  for  lighting  pipes  and  cigars,  which 
he  called  a  "fire-fly,"  the  composition  of  which  was 
so  dangerous  that  it  had  already  caused  a  good  deal 
of  damage  in  the  town  from  its  exploding ;  and  he 
wanted  some  active  young  dogs  to  dispose  of  his 
wares  to  the  passers-by  according  to  the  custom  of 
Caneville.  As  he  expected  a  good  deal  of  opposi- 
tion from  the  venders  of  a  rival  article,  it  was  no- 


Early  Days.  1531 

cessary  to  make  choice  of  su-ch  agents  as  would  not 
be  easily  turned  from  their  purpose  for  fear  of  au 
odd  bite  or  two.  I  suppose  he  thought  I  was  well 
fitted  for  the  object  he  had  in  view.  I  was  very 
poor— one  good  reason  for  his  employing  me,  as  I 
would  be  contented  with  little ;  I  was  strong,  and 
should  therefore  be  able  to  get  through  the  work ; 
I  was  willing,  and  bore  a  reputation  for  honesty — 
all  sutiicient  causes  for  old  Fily  (that  was  his  name) 
to  stop  me  this  fine  morning  and  propose  my  enter- 
ing his  service.  Terms  are  easily  arranged  where 
both  parties  are  willing  to  come  to  an  agreement. 
After  being  regaled  with  a  mouldy  bone,  and 
dressed  out  in  an  old  suit  of  clothes  belonging  to 
my  new  master,  which  in  spite  of  a  great  hole  in 
one  of  the  knees,  I  was  not  a  little  proud  of,  with 
a  bundle  of  wares  under  my  arm  and  a  box  of  the 
famous  "  fire-flies"  in  my  paw,  I  began  my  com- 
mercial career. 

But,  alas  I  either  the  good  dogs  of  Canevillo 
were  little  disposed  to  speculate  that  day,  or  I  waa 
very  awkward  in  my  occupation,  but  no  one  seemed 
willing  to  make  a  trial  of  my  "fire-flies."  In  vain 
I  used  the  most  enticing  words  to  set  off  my  goods, 
even  going  so  far  as  to  say  that  cigars  lighted  with 
these  matches  would  have  a  very  much  finer  fla- 
vour, and  could  not  possibly  go  out.  This  I  said 
on  the  authority  of  my  employer  who  assured  me 
of  the  fact.  It  was  of  no  use ;  not  a  single  "  fire- 
fly" blazed  in  consequence,  and  I  began  to  fear  that 
I  was  not  destined  to  make  my  fortune  as  a  match  • 
seller. 


154  Adventures  of  a  Dcg. 

At  length  there  came  sweeping  down  the  street 
a  party  which  at  once  attracted  me,  and  I  resolved 
to  use  my  best  efforts  to  dispose,  at  least,  of  one  of 
my  boxes,  if  it  were  only  to  convince  my  master 
that  I  had  done  my  best.  The  principal  animal  of 
the  group  was  a  lady  doggess,  beautifully  dressed, 
with  sufficient  stuff  in  her  gown  to  cover  a  dozen 
ordinary  dogs,  a  large  muff  to  keep  her  paws  from 
the  cold,  and  a  very  open  bonnet  with  a  garden-full 
of  flowers  round  her  face,  which,  in  spite  of  her  rich 
clothes,  I  did  not  think  a  very  pretty  one.  A  little 
behind  her  was  another  doggess,  not  quite  so  su- 
perbly dressed,  holding  a  puppy  by  the  paw.  It 
was  very  certain  that  they  were  great  animals,  for 
two  or  three  dogs  they  had  just  passed  had  taken 
off  their  hats  as  they  went  by,  and  then  put  their 
noses  together  as  if  they  were  saying  something 
about  them. 

I  drew  near,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  was 
timid  and  abashed.  The  fine  clothes,  no  doubt,  had 
something  to  do  with  making  me  feel  so,  but — I 
was  still  very  young.  Taking  courage,  I  went  ou 
tiptoe  to  the  great  lady,  and  begged  her  to  buy  a 
box  of  "  fire-flies"  of  a  poor  dog  who  had  no  other 
means  of  gaining  his  bread.  Now,  you  must  know 
that  these  matches  had  not  a  pleasant  smell — few 
matches  have — but  as  they  were  shut  up  in  the  box, 
the  odour  could  not  have  I  een  very  sensible.  How- 
ever, when  I  held  up  the  Article  towards  her  lady- 
ship, she  put  her  paw  tc  her  nose, — as  though  to 
shut  out  the  odour, — uttered  a  low  howl,  and,  though 
big  enough  and  strong  enough  to  have  sent  me  head 


Early  Dayb.  15a 

over  heels  with  a  single  blow,  seemed  on  the  point 
of  falling  to  the  ground.  But  at  the  instant,  two 
male  servants,  whom  I  had  not  seen,  ran  to  her  as- 
sistance, while  I,  who  was  the  innocent  cause  of  all 
this  commotion,  stood  like  a  silly  dog  that  I  was, 
with  mj  box  in  the  air  and  my  mouth  wide  open, 
wondering  what  it  all  meant.  I  was  not  suffered 
to  remain  long  in  ignorance ;  for  the  two  hounds 
in  livery,  turning  to  me,  so  belaboured  my  poor 
back  that  I  thought  at  first  my  bones  were  broken, 
while  the  young  puppy,  who,  it  appears,  was  her 
ladyship's  youngest  son,  running  behind  me,  whilst 
I  was  in  this  condition,  gave  my  tail  such  a  pull  as 
to  cause  me  the  greatest  pain.  They  then  left  me 
in  the  middle  of  the  road,  to  reflect  on  my  ill  suc- 
cess in  trade,  and  gather  up  my  stock  as  I  best 
could. 

I  do  not  know  what  it  was  which  made  me  so 
anxious  to  learn  the  name  and  rank  of  the  lady  dog- 
gess  who  had  been  the  cause  of  my  severe  punish- 
ment, but  I  eagerly  inquired  of  a  kind  mongrel,  who 
stopped  to  help  me  collect  my  scattered  goods,  if 
he  knew  anything  about  her.  He  said,  she  was 
called  Lady  Bull ;  that  her  husband.  Sir  John  Bull, 
had  made  a  large  fortune  somehow,  and  that  they 
lived  in  a  splendid  house,  had  about  thirty  puppies 
little  and  big,  had  plenty  of  servants,  and  spent  a 
great  deal  of  money.  He  could  hardly  imagine  he 
said,  that  it  was  the  odour  of  the  "  fire-flies"  which 
had  occasioned  me  to  be  knocked  down  for  upset- 
ting her  ladyship,  as  she  had  been  a  butcher's 
daughter,  and  was  used  to  queer  smells,  unless  her 


156  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

nose  had  perhaps  got  more  delicate  with  her  change 
of  position. 

He  said  much  more  about  her  and  her  peculiari 
ties  than  I  either  remember  or  care  to  repeat,  but, 
imagining  he  had  some  private  reasons  for  saying 
what  he  did,  I  thanked  him  for  his  trouble,  and  bid 
him  good  day. 

Whatever  the  cause  of  my  failure,  it  seemed  that 
I  was  not  fitted  for  the  match-business.  At  all 
events,  the  experience  of  that  morning  did  not  en- 
courage me  sufficiently  to  proceed.  So,  returning 
the  unsold  "  fire-flies"  to  old  Fily,  I  made  him  a 
present  of  the  time  I  had  already  spent  in  his  ser- 
vice, and,  with  a  thoughtful  face  and  aching  bones, 
took  my  way  towards  the  kennel  by  the  water- 


CHANGES. 

npHE  sun  was  just  going  down  as  I  came  in  sight 
-■-  of  the  river  and  the  row  of  poor  kennels  which 
btood  on  the  bank,  many  of  them  like  our  own, 
projecting  half  over  the  water.  I  could  not  help 
wondering  at  the  pretty  efiect  they  made  at  a  dis- 
tance, with  the  blue  river  dancing  gaily  by  their 
side,  the  large  trees  of  the  wood  on  the  opposite 
bank  waving  in  beauty,  and  the  brilliant  sun 
changing  everything  that  his  rays  fell  upon  into 
gold.  He  made  the  poor  kennels  look  so  splendid 
for  the  time,  that  no  one  would  have  thought  tha 


Changes.  157 

animals  wbo  lived  in  them  could  ever  be  poor  or 
unhappy.  But  when  the  rich  light  was  gone, — ■ 
gone  with  the  sun  which  made  it  to  some  other 
land, — it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  place  was  changed. 
The  trees  shivered  as  though  a  cold  wind  was  stir- 
ring them.  The  river  ran  dark  and  sullenly  by 
the  poor  houses ;  and  the  houses  themselves  looked 
more  wretched,  I  thought,  than  they  had  ever  ap- 
peared before.  Yet,  somehow,  they  were  more 
home-like  in  their  dismal  state  than  when  they  had 
a  golden  roof  and  purple  sides,  so,  resuming  my 
walk,  for  I  had  stopped  to  admire  the  pretty  pic- 
ture, I  soon  came  near  the  door. 

It  was  open,  as  usual.  But  what  was  not  usual, 
was  to  hear  other  sounds  from  within  than  the  voice 
of  the  old  doggess,  making  ceaseless  moans.  Now 
it  seemed  as  if  all  the  doggesses  of  the  neighbour- 
hood had  met  in  the  poor  hut  to  pass  the  evening, 
for  there  was  such  confusion  of  tongues,  and  such  a 
rustling  sound,  as  told  me,  before  I  peeped  inside, 
that  there  was  a  large  party  got  together  and  that 
tails  were  wagging  at  a  fearful  rate. 

When  I  stood  before  the  open  door,  all  the  scene 
broke  upon  me.  On  her  bed  of  straw,  evidently 
at  the  point  of  death,  lay  my  poor  doggess.  Her 
eyes  had  almost  lost  their  fierce  expression,  and 
were  becoming  fixed  and  glassy — a  slight  tremor 
in  her  legs  and  movement  of  her  stumpy  tail,  were 
all  that  told  she  was  yet  living ;  not  even  her  breast 
was  seen  to  heave. 

I  had  not  much  reason  to  bear  love  to  the  old 
treature  for  any  kindness  she  had  ever  shown  me, 
14 


158  Adventures  of  a  Doo. 

but  this  sight  overcame  me  at  once.  Springing  tc 
her  side,  and  upsetting  half  a  dozen  of  the  gossips 
by  the  movement,  I  laid  my  paws  on  her;  and, 
involuntarily  raising  my  head  in  the  air,  I  sent 
forth  a  howl  which  shook  the  rotten  timbers  of  the 
old  kennel,  and  so  frightened  the  assembled  party 
as  to  make  them  scamper  out  of  the  place  like  mad 
things.  The  sound  even  called  back  the  departing 
senses  of  the  dying  doggess.  She  drew  me  to  her 
with  her  paws,  and  made  an  effort  to  lick  me.  The 
action  quite  melted  me.  I  put  down  my  head  to 
hers  and  felt  a  singular  pleasure  mixed  with  grief 
whilst  I  licked  and  caressed  her.  I  could  not  help 
thinking  then,  as  I  have  often  thought  since,  of 
how  much  happiness  we  had  lost  by  not  being 
more  indulgent  to  each  other's  faults,  forgiving  and 
loving  one  another.  She  also  seemed  to  be  of  this 
opinion,  if  I  might  judge  by  the  grateful  look  and 
passive  manner  in  which  she  received  my  attentions. 
Perhaps  the  near  approach  of  her  end  gave  a  soft 
ness  to  her  nature  which  was  unusual  to  her ;  it  is 
not  unlikely ;  but,  of  a  certainty,  I  never  felt  before 
how  much  I  was  losing,  as  when  I  saw  that  poor 
doggess's  life  thus  ebbing  away. 

Night  had  come  on  while  I  sat  watching  by  her 
side.  Everything  about  the  single  room  had  be- 
come more  and  more  indistinct,  until  all  objects 
were  alike  blended  in  the  darkness.  I  could  no 
longer  distinguish  the  shape  of  my  companion,  and, 
but  that  I  knew  she  was  there,  I  could  have  thought 
myself  alone.  The  wind  had  fallen;  the  water 
ieemod  to  run  more  gently  than  it  was  wont  to  do ; 


Changes.  159 

and  the  noises  whicli  generally  make  themselves 
heard  in  the  streets  of  Caneville  appeared  to  be  sin- 
gularly quieted.  But  once  only,  at  another  period 
of  my  life,  which  I  shall  speak  of  in  its  proper  place, 
do  I  ever  remember  to  have  been  so  struck  by  the 
silence,  and  to  have  felt  myself  so  entirely  alone. 

The  moon  appeared  to  rise  quicker  that  night,  as 
though  it  pitied  the  poor  forlorn  dog.  It  peeped 
over  an  opposite  house,  and  directly  after,  shone 
coldly  but  kindly  through  the  open  door.  At  least, 
its  light  seemed  to  come  like  the  visit  of  a  friend, 
in  spite  of  its  showing  me  what  I  feared,  that  I  was 
indeed  alone  in  the  world.  The  poor  doggess  had 
died  in  the  darkness  between  the  setting  of  the  sun 
and  the  moon's  rise. 

I  was  sure  that  she  was  dead,  yet  I  howled  no 
more.  My  grief  was  very  great;  for  it  is  a  sad, 
sad  thing  when  you  are  young  to  find  you  are 
without  friends ;  perhaps  sadder  when  you  are  old ; 
but  that,  I  fortunately  do  not  myself  know,  for  I 
am  old,  and  have  many  friends.  I  recollect  put- 
ting my  nose  between  my  paws,  and  lying  at  full 
length  on  the  floor,  waiting  till  the  bright  sun 
should  come  again,  and  thinking  of  my  forlorn 
condition.  I  must  have  slept  and  dreamed — yet  I 
thought  I  was  still  in  the  old  kennel  with  the  dead 
doggess  by  my  side.  But  everything  seemed  to 
have  found  a  voice,  and  to  be  saying  kind  things 
to  me. 

The  river,  as  it  ran  and  shook  the  supports  of 
thjB  old  kennel,  appeared  to  cry  out  in  a  rough  but 
gay  tone:  ''Job,  Job,  my  dog,  cheer  up,  cheer  up; 


160  Adventures  of  a  Doo. 

the  world  is  before  you,  Job,  cbeer  up,  cheer  up.' 
The  light  wind  that  was  coming  by  that  way 
stopped  to  speak  to  me  as  it  passed.  It  flew  round 
the  little  room,  and  whispered  as  it  went :  "  Poor 
dog,  poor  dog,  you  are  very  lonely ;  but  the  good 
need  not  be  so ;  the  good  may  have  friends,  dear 
Job,  however  poor!"  The  trees,  as  they  waved 
their  heads,  sent  kindly  words  across  the  water,  that 
made  their  way  to  my  heart  right  through  the 
chinks  of  the  old  cabin ;  and  when  morning  broke, 
and  a  bright  sky  smiled  beautifully  upon  the  streets 
of  Caneville,  I  woke  up,  sad  indeed,  but  full  of 
hope. 

Some  ragged  curs  arrived,  and  carried  the  old 
doggess  away.  She  was  very  heavy,  and  they 
were  forced  to  use  all  their  strength.  I  saw  her 
cast  into  the  water,  which  she  disliked  so  much 
alive ;  I  watched  her  floating  form  until  the  rapid 
current  bore  it  into  the  wood,  and  I  stayed  sitting 
on  the  brink  of  the  river,  wondering  where  it 
would  reach  at  last,  and  what  sort  of  places  must 
lie  beyond  the  trees.  I  had  an  idea  in  my  own 
mind  that  the  sun  rested  there  all  night,  only  I 
could  not  imagine  how  it  came  up  again  in  the 
morning  in  quite  an  opposite  quarter;  but  then  I 
was  such  a  young  and  ignorant  puppy  I 

After  thinking  about  this  and  a  good  many  other 
matters  of  no  importance  to  my  story,  I  got  upon 
my  legs,  and  trotted  gently  along  the  bank,  to- 
wards a  part  of  the  city  which  I  did  not  remember 
to  have  seen  before.  The  houses  were  very  few, 
but  they  were  large  and  handsome,  and  all  had 


CHANGES.  161 

pretty  gardens  in  nice  order,  with  flowers  which 
smelt  so  sweet,  that  I  thought  the  dogs  who  could 
always  enjoy  such  advantages  must  be  very  happy 
But  one  of  the  houses,  larger  than  all  the  rest,  very 
much  struck  me,  for  I  had  never  an  idea  of  such  a 
splendid  place  being  in  Caneville.  It  was  upon  a 
little  hill  that  stood  at  some  distance  from  the  river, 
and  the  ground  which  sloped  down  from  the  house 
into  the  water  was  covered  with  such  beautiful 
grass,  that  it  made  one  long  to  nibble  and  roll 
upon  it. 

While  I  was  quietly  looking  at  this  charming 
scene,  I  was  startled  by  a  loud  noise  of  barking 
and  howling  higher  up  the  river,  and  a  confused 
sound  as  if  a  great  many  dogs  were  assembled  at 
one  place,  all  calling  out  together.  I  ran  at  once 
in  the  direction  of  the  hubbub,  partly  out  of  curi- 
osity and  in  part  from  some  other  motive,  perhaps 
the  notion  of  being  able  to  render  some  help. 

A  little  before  me  the  river  had  a  sudden  bend, 
and  the  bank  rose  high,  which  prevented  me  see- 
ing the  cause  of  the  noise;  but  when  I  reached  the 
top  the  whole  scene  was  before  me.  On  my  side 
of  the  river  a  great  crowd  had  assembled,  who 
were  looking  intently  upon  something  in  the  water; 
and  on  the  opposite  bank  there  was  a  complete 
stream  of  dogs  running  down  to  the  hill  which  be 
longed  to  the  beautiful  house  I  had  been  admiring. 
Every  dog,  as  he  ran,  seemed  to  be  trying  to  make 
as  much  noise  as  he  could ;  and  those  I  spoke  to 
were  barking  so  loudly,  and  jumping  about  in  such 
a  way,  that  I  could  at  first  get  no  explanation  of 
14* 


162  Adventures  of  a  Dos. 

what  was  the  matter.  At  last  I  saw  that  the  strug- 
gling object  in  the  water  was  a  young  puppy,  which 
seemed  very  nicely  dressed,  and  at  the  same  mo* 
ment  the  mongrel  who  had  helped  me  to  pick  up 
my  matches  the  day  before,  came  alongside  of  me, 
and  said:  "Ah,  young  firefly,  how  are  you?  Isn't 
this  a  game  ?  That  old  Lady  Bull  who  got  you 
such  a  drubbing  yesterday,  is  in  a  pretty  mess. 
Her  thirty-second  pup  has  just  tumbled  into  the 
water,  and  will  certainly  be  drowned.  Isn't  she 
making  a  fuss?  just  look!" 

One  rapid  glance  showed  me  the  grand  lady  he 
spoke  of,  howling  most  fearfully  on  the  other  side 
of  the  stream,  while  two  pups,  about  the  same  size 
as  the  one  in  the  water,  and  a  stout  dog,  who 
looked  like  the  papa,  were  sometimes  catching 
hold  of  her  and  then  running  about,  not  knowing 
what  to  do. 

I  stopped  no  longer.  I  threw  off  my  over-coat, 
and  running  to  a  higher  part  of  the  bank,  leapt 
into  the  water,  the  mongrel's  voice  calling  after 
me:  "What  are  you  going  to  do?  Don't  you 
know  it's  the  son  of  the  old  doggess  who  had  you 
beat  so  soundly?  Look  at  your  shoulder,  where 
the  hair  has  been  all  knocked  off  with  the  blows  ?*^ 
Without  paying  the  least  attention  to  these  words, 
which  I  could  not  help  hearing  they  were  called 
out  so  loudly,  I  used  all  my  strength  to  reach  the 
poor  little  pup,  who,  tired  with  his  efforts  to  help 
himself,  had  already  floated  on  to  his  back,  while 
his  tiny  legs  and  paws  were  moving  feebly  in  the 
air     I  reached  him  after  a  few  more  efforts,  aod^ 


Changes.  163 

seizing  his  clothes  with  my  teeth,  I  got  his  head 
above  the  water,  and  swam  with  my  load  slowly 
towards  the  bank. 

As  I  got  nearer,  I  could  see  Lady  Bull,  still  su- 
perbly dressed,  but  without  her  bonnet,  throw  up 
her  paws  and  nose  towards  the  sky,  and  fall  back 
into  the  arms  of  her  husband ;  while  the  two  pups 
by  her  side  expressed  their  feelings  in  different 
ways ;  for  one  stuffed  his  little  fists  into  his  eyes, 
and  the  other  waved  his  cap  in  the  air,  and  broke 
forth  into  a  succession  of  infantile  bow-wows. 

On  reaching  the  bank,  I  placed  my  load  at  the 
feet  of  his  poor  mother,  who  threw  herself  by  his 
side  and  hugged  him  to  her  breast  in  a  way  which 
proved  how  much  tenderness  was  under  those  fine 
clothes  and  affected  manners.  The  others  stood 
around  her  uttering  low  moans  of  sympathy,  and 
I,  seeing  all  so  engaged  and  taken  up  with  the  re- 
covered dog,  quietly,  and,  as  I  thought,  unseen  by 
all,  slid  back  into  the  water,  and  permitted  myself 
to  be  carried  by  the  current  down  the  river.  I 
crawled  out  at  some  short  distance  from  the  spot 
where  this  scene  had  taken  place,  and  threw 
myself  on  to  the  grass,  in  order  to  rest  from  my 
fatigue  and  allow  the  warm  sun  to  dry  my  satu- 
rated clothes.  What  I  felt  I  can  scarce  describe, 
although  I  remember  so  distinctly  everything  con- 
nected with  that  morning.  My  principal  sensation 
was  that  of  savage  joy,  to  think  I  had  saved  the 
Bon  of  the  doggess  who  had  caused  me  such  un- 
kind treatment.  I  was  cruel  enough,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  to  figure  to  myself  her  pain  at  receiving 


164  Adventures  of  a    ■)og, 

Buch  a  favour  from  me — but  that  idea  st)on  passed 
away,  on  reflecting  that  perhaps  she  would  nol 
even  know  to  whom  she  owed  her  son's  escape 
from  death. 

In  the  midst  of  my  ruminations,  a  light  step  be- 
hind me  caused  me  to  raise  my  head.  I  was  posi- 
tively startled  at  the  beautiful  object  which  I  be- 
held. It  was  a  lady  puppy  about  my  own  age, 
but  so  small  in  size,  and  with  such  an  innocent, 
sweet  look,  that  she  seemed  much  younger.  Her 
dress  was  of  the  richest  kind,  and  her  bonnet 
wtiich  had  fallen  back  from  her  head,  showed  her 
glossy  dark  hair  and  drooping  ears  that  hung 
gracefully  beside  her  cheeks.  Poorly  as  I  was 
dressed,  and  wet  as  I  still  was  from  my  bath,  she 
sat  herself  beside  me,  and  putting  her  little  soft 
paw  upon  my  shoulder,  said,  with  a  smile, — 

"Ah,  Job! — for  I  know  that's  your  name — did 
you  think  you  could  get  off  so  quietly  without  any 
one  seeing  you,  or  stopping  you,  or  saying  one  sin- 
gle 'thank  you,  Job,'  for  being  such  a  good,  noble 
dog  as  you  are?  Did  you  think  there  was  not  one 
fiharp  eye  in  Caneville  to  watch  the  saver,  but  that 
all  were  fixed  upon  the  saved?  That  every 
tongue  was  so  engaged  in  sympathising  with  the 
mother,  that  not  one  was  left  to  praise  the  brave? 
If  you  thought  this,  dear  Job,  you  did  me  and 
others  wrong,  great  wrong.  There  are  some  dogs, 
at  least,  who  may  forget  an  injury,  but  who  never 
forget  a  noble  action,  and  I  have  too  great  a  love 
for  my  species  to  let  you  think  so.  I  shall  see 
you  again,  dear  Job,  though  I  must  leave  you  now 


Changes.  165 

I  should  be  blamed  if  it  were  known  that  I  had 
oome  here  to  talk  to  yovi  as  I  have  done ;  but  I 
could  not  help  it,  I  could  not  let  you  believe  that  a 
noble  heart  was  not  understood  in  Caneville. 
Adieu.     Do  not  forget  the  name  of  Fida." 

She  stooped  down,  and  for  a  moment  her  silky 
hair  waved  on  my  rough  cheek,  while  her  soft 
tongue  gently  licked  my  face.  Before  I  could  open 
my  mouth  in  reply — before,  indeed,  I  had  re- 
covered from  my  surprise,  and  the  admiration 
which  this  beautiful  creature  caused  me,  she  was 
gone.  I  sprang  on  to  my  legs  to  observe  which 
way  she  went,  but  not  a  trace  of  her  could  I  see, 
and  I  thought  it  would  not  be  proper  to  follow 
her.  When  I  felt  certain  of  being  alone,  I  could 
hardly  restrain  my  feelings,  I  threw  myself  on  my 
back,  I  rolled  upon  the  grass,  I  turned  head  over 
heels  in  the  boisterousness  of  my  spirit,  and  then 
gambolled  round  and  round  like  a  mad  thing. 

Did  I  believe  all  the  flattering  praises  which  the 
lovely  Fida  had  bestowed  on  me  ?  I  might  per- 
haps have  done  so  then,  and  in  my  inexperience 
might  have  fancied  that  I  was  quite  a  hero.  Time 
has  taught  me  another  lesson.  It  has  impressed 
upon  me  the  truth,  that  when  we  do  our  duty  we 
do  only  what  should  be  expected  of  every  dog ; 
only  what  every  dog  ought  to  do.  Of  the  two, 
Fida  had  done  the  nobler  action.  She  had  shown 
not  only  a  promptness  to  feel  what  she  considered 
good,  but  she  had  had  the  courage  to  say  so  in 
private  to  the  doer,  although  he  was  of  the  poorest 
and  she  of  the  richest  class  of  Caneville  society 


166  Adventures  of  a  Dog, 

In  saving  the  little  pup's  life,  I  had  risked  nothing; 
I  knew  my  strength,  and  felt  certain  I  could  bring 
him  safely  to  the  shore.  If  I  had  not  tried  to  save 
the  poor  little  fellow  I  should  have  been  in  part 
guilty  of  his  death.  But  she,  in  bestowing  secret 
praise  and  encouragement  upon  a  poor  dog  who 
had  no  friends  to  admire  her  for  so  doing,  while 
her  action  would  perhaps  bring  blame  upon  her 
from  her  proud  friends,  did  that  which  was  truly 
good  and  noble. 

The  thought  of  returning  to  my  solitary  home 
after  the  sad  scene  of  the  night  before,  and  parti- 
cularly after  the  new  feelings  just  excited,  was  not 
a  pleasant  one.  The  bright  sky  and  fresh  air 
seemed  to  suit  me  better  than  black  walls  and  the 
smell  of  damp  straw.  Kesolving  in  my  mind,  how- 
ever, to  leave  it  as  soon  as  possible,  I  re-crossed  the 
river,  and  with  a  slower  step  than  usual,  took  the 
road  which  led  thither. 


UPS  AlO)  DOWNS. 


I  SHOULD  not  probably  have  spoken  of  these 
last  incidents  in  my  life,  as  the  relation  of  them 
savours  rather  too  much  of  vanity,  but  for  certain 
results  of  the  highest  importance  to  my  future  for- 
tunes. 

When  I  reached  the  old  kennel  I  found,  waiting 
my  return,  two  terrier  dogs  in  livery,  with  bulls' 


TJps  AND  Downs.  16'' 

heads  grinning  from  such  a  quantity  of  buttong 
upon  their  lace  coats  that  it  was  quite  startling. 
They  brought  a  polite  message  from  Sir  John  and 
Lady  Bull,  begging  me  to  call  upon  them  without 
delay.  As  the  servants  had  orders  to  show  me  the 
road,  we  set  off  at  once. 

I  was  very  silent  on  the  journey,  for  my  com- 
panions were  so  splendidly  dressed  that  I  could  not 
help  thinking  they  must  be  very  superior  dogs 
indeed;  and  I  was  rather  surprised,  when  they 
spoke  to  each  other,  to  find  that  they  talked  just 
like  any  other  animals,  and  a  good  deal  more  com- 
monly than  many  that  I  knew.  But  such  is  the 
effect  of  fine  clothes  upon  those  who  know  no 
better. 

We  soon  reached  the  grounds  of  the  mansion, 
having  crossed  the  river  in  a  boat  that  was  waiting 
for  us,  and  after  passing  through  a  garden  more 
beautiful  than  my  poor  dog's  brain  had  ever  ima- 
gined, we  at  last  stood  before  the  house  itself.  I 
need  not  describe  to  you,  who  know  the  place  so 
well,  the  vastness  of  the  building  or  the  splendour 
of  its  appearance.  What  struck  me  more  even  than 
the  palace,  was  the  number  of  the  servants  and  the 
richness  of  their  clothes.  Each  of  them  seemed 
fine  enough  to  be  the  master  of  the  place,  and 
appeared  really  to  think  so,  if  I  could  judge  by  the 
way  they  strutted  about  and  the  look  they  gave  at 
my  poor  apparel.  I  was  much  abashed  at  first 
to  find  myself  in  such  a  company  and  make  so 
miserable  a  figure ;  but  I  was  consoled  with  the 
thought  that  not  one  of  the*n  that  morning  had 


168  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

ventured,  in  spite  of  his  eating  his  mnster's  meat 
and  living  in  his  master's  house,  to  plunge  into  the 
water  to  save  his  master's  son.  Silly  dog  that  I 
was  I  it  did  not  enter  my  head  at  the  same  time  to 
inquire  whether  any  of  them  had  learnt  to  swim. 

If  the  outside  of  the  mansion  had  surprised  me 
by  its  beauty,  the  interior  appeared  of  course  much 
more  extraordinary  to  my  ignorant  mind.  Every 
thing  I  was  unused  to  looked  funny  or  wonderful, 
and  if  I  had  not  been  restrained  by  the  presence  of 
such  great  dogs,  I  should  have- sometimes  laughed 
outright,  and  at  others  broken  forth  into  expressiona 
of  surprise. 

The  stout  Sir  John  Bull  was  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  when  I  entered  it,  while  the 
stouter  Lady  Bull  was  lying  on  a  kind  of  sofa,  that 
seemed  quite  to  sink  beneath  her  weight.  I  found 
out  afterwards  that  it  was  the  softness  of  the  sofa 
which  made  it  appear  so ;  for  sitting  on  it  myself, 
at  my  Lady's  request,  I  jumped  up  in  the  greatest 
alarm,  on  finding  the  heaviest  part  of  my  body  sink 
lower  and  lower  down,  and  my  tail  come  flapping 
into  my  face. 

Sir  John  and  Lady  Bull  now  thanked  me  very 
warmly  for  what  I  had  done,  and  said  a  great  many 
things  which  it  is  not  worth  while  to  repeat.  I 
remember  they  were  very  pleasing  to  me  then,  but 
I  am  sure  cannot  be  interesting  to  you  now.  After 
their  thanks.  Sir  John  began  to  talk  to  me  about 
myself — about  my  parents — my  wishes — what  I 
intended  to  do — and  what  were  my  means?  To  his 
great  surprise  he  learnt  that  parents  I  had  none 


Ups  and  Downs.  16i 

that  my  only  wishes  were  the  desire  to  do  some 
good  for  myself  and  others,  and  earn  my  meat; 
that  I  had  no  notion  what  I  intended  doing,  and 
had  no  means  whatever  to  do  anything  with.  It 
may  be  beheved  that  I  wilhngly  accepted  his  offer 
to  watch  over  a  portion  of  his  grounds,  to  save 
them  from  the  depredations  of  thieves,  on  condition 
of  my  receiving  good  clothes,  plenty  of  food,  and  a 
comfortable  house  to  live  in.  It  was  now  my  turn 
to  be  thankful.  But  although  my  heart  was  full 
at  this  piece  of  good  fortune,  and  I  could  thinh  of 
a  great  many  things  to  say  to  show  my  gratitude, 
not  a  single  word  could  I  find  to  express  it  in,  but 
stood  before  them  like  a  dumb  dog,  with  only  the 
wave  of  my  tail  to  explain  my  thanks.  They 
seemed,  however,  to  understand  it,  and  I  was  at 
once  ordered  a  complete  suit  of  clothes  and  every 
thing  fitted  for  my  new  position.  I  was  also  sup- 
plied with  the  most  abundant  supper  I  had  ever 
had  in  my  life,  and  went  to  rest  upon  the  most 
delightful  bed,  so  that  before  I  went  to  sleep,  and 
I  do  believe  afterwards  too,  I  kept  saying  to  my- 
self, "  Job,  Job,  you  have  surely  got  some  other 
dog's  place ;  all  this  good  luck  can't  be  meant  for 
you;  what  have  you  done.  Job,  that  you  should 
eat  such  meat,  and  sleep  on  so  soft  a  bed,  and  be 
spoken  to  so  kindly.  Don't  forget  yourself.  Job, 
there  must  be  some  mistake."  But  when  I  got  up 
in  the  morning,  and  found  a  breakfast  for  me  as 
nice  as  the  supper,  and  looked  at  my  clothes,  which 
i*  not  so  smart  as  some  of  the  others,  were  better 
and  finer  than  any  I  could  ever  have  thought  I 
15 


170  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

should  have  worn,  I  was  at  last  convinced  thai 
although  I  was  poor  Job,  and  although  I  did  no^ 
perhaps,  deserve  all  the  happiness  I  felt,  that  it  was 
not  a  dream,  but  real,  plain  truth.  "  As  it  is  so," 
I  said  again,  "  I  must  do  my  duty  as  well  as  I  am 
able,  for  that  is  the  only  way  a  poor  dog  like  me 
can  show  his  gratitude." 

After  breakfast,  I  accompanied  Sir  John  to  the 
place  of  my  future  home.  A  quarter  of  an  hour's 
walk  brought  us  to  a  gentle  hill,  which,  similar  to 
the  one  whereon  the  mansion  itself  was  situated, 
sloped  downwards  to  the  water.  One  or  two  trees, 
like  giant  sentinels,  stood  near  the  top,  and  behind 
them  waved  the  branches  of  scores  more,  while  be- 
yond for  many  a  mile  spread  the  dark  mass  of  the 
thick  forest  of  which  I  have  more  than  once  made 
mention.  Nearly  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  beneath  a 
spreading  oak,  was  a  cottage,  a  very  picture  of 
peace  and  neatness,  and  as  we  paused.  Sir  John 
pointed  out  the  peculiarities  of  the  position  and  ex- 
plained  my  duties.  It  appeared  that  this  part  of 
his  grounds  was  noted  for  a  delicate  kind  of  bird ; 
much  esteemed  by  himself  and  his  family,  and 
which  was  induced  to  flock  there  by  regular  feed- 
ing and  the  quiet  of  the  situation.  This  fact  was, 
however,  perfectly  well  known  to  others  besides 
Sir  John,  and  as  these  others  were  just  as  fond  of 
the  birds  as  himself,  they  were  accustomed  to  pay 
nightly  visits  to  the  forbidden  ground,  and  carry 
off  many  of  the  plumpest  fowl.  The  wood  waa 
known  to  shelter  many  a  wandering  fox,  who,  al- 
though dwelling  so  near  the  city,  could  not  be 


Ups  and  Downs.  171 

prevailed  on  to  abandon  their  roguish  habits  and 
live  in  a  civilized  manner.  These  birds  were  par- 
ticularly to  their  taste,  and  it  required  the  greatest 
agility  to  keep  off  the  cunning  invaders,  for,  though 
they  had  no  great  courage,  and  would  not  attempt 
to  resist  a  bold  dog,  they  frequently  succeeded  ia 
eluding  all  vigilance  and  getting  off  with  their 
booty.  Often,  too,  a  stray  cur,  sometimes  two  or 
three  together,  from  the  lowest  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation would,  when  moved  by  hunger,  make  a  de- 
scent on  the  preserves,  and  battles  of  a  fierce  char- 
acter not  seldom  occurred,  for  unlike  the  foxes, 
they  were  never  unwilling  to  fight,  but  showed  the 
utmost  ferocity  when  attacked,  and  were  often  the 
aggressors.  But  these  were  not  all.  The  grounds 
were  exactly  opposite  that  part  of  the  city  of  Cane- 
ville  known  as  the  "  Mews,"  and  occupied  by  the 
cat  population,  who  have  a  general  affection  for 
most  birds,  and  held  these  preserved  ones  in  par- 
ticular esteem.  Fortunately,  the  water  that  inter- 
posed was  a  formidable  barrier  for  the  feline  visitors, 
as  few  pussies  like  to  wet  their  feet,  but,  by  some 
means  or  other  they  frequently  found  their  way 
across,  and  by  their  dexterity,  swiftness,  and  the 
quiet  of  their  movements,  committed  terrible  rava- 
ges among  the  birds.  When  Sir  John  had  told 
me  all  this,  he  led  the  way  down  the  hill  to  the 
erigill  house  under  the  tree.  It  had  two  rooms, 
with  a  kennel  at  the  back.  The  front  room  was 
the  parlour,  and  I  thought  few  places  could  have 
been  so  neat  and  pretty.  The  back  was  the  sleep- 
ing-roorn,  and  the  windows  of  both  looked  out  upon 


172  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

the  soft  grass  and  trees,  and  showed  a  fine  view  of 
the  river. 

"This,"  said  Sir  John,  "is  jour  house,  and  1 
hope  you  will  be  happy  in  it  yourself  and  be  of 
service  to  me.  You  will  not  be  alone,  for  there" 
— pointing  to  the  kennel  at  the  back — "  sleeps  an 
old  servant  of  the  family,  who  will  assist  you  in 
your  duties." 

He  then  called  out  "Nip,"  when  a  rumbling 
noise  was  heard  from  the  kennel,  and  directly  after 
a  lame  hound  came  hopping  round  to  the  door. 
The  sight  of  this  old  fellow  was  not  pleasant  at 
first,  for  his  hair  was  a  grizzly  brown  and  his  head 
partly  bald ;  his  eyes  were  sunk,  and,  indeed,  al- 
most hidden  beneath  his  bushy  brows,  and  hia 
cheeks  hung  down  below  his  mouth  and  shook 
with  every  step  he  took.  I  soon  found  out  that  he 
was  as  singular  in  his  manners  as  in  his  looks,  and 
had  such  a  dislike  to  talking  that  it  was  a  rare 
thing  for  him  to  say  more  than  two  or  three  words 
at  one  time.  Sir  John  told  him  who  I  was,  and 
desired  him  to  obey  my  orders ;  commanded  us 
both  to  be  good  friends  and  not  quarrel,  as  strange 
dogs  were  rather  apt  to  do,  and  after  some  more 
advice  left  us  to  ourselves,  I  in  a  perfect  dream  of 
wonderment,  and  "  Nip"  sitting  winking  at  me  in 
a  way  that  I  thought  more  funny  than  agreeable. 

After  we  had  sat  looking  at  one  another  for  some 
time,  I  said,  just  to  break  the  silence,  which  was 
becoming  tiresome : 

"  A  pretty  place  this  1" 

Nip  winked. 


Ups  and  Downs.  HS 

"  Have  you  been  hero  long?"  I  asked. 

**  Think  so,"  said  Nip. 

**  All  alone?"  I  inquired. 

"  Almost,"  Nip  replied. 

*'  Much  work  to  do,  eh  ?"  I  asked. 

The  only  answer  Nip  gave  to  this  was  by  wink- 
ing first  one  eye  and  then  the  other,  and  making 
his  cheeks  rise  and  fall  in  a  way  so  droll  that  I 
could  not  help  laughing,  at  which  Nip  seemed  to 
take  offence,  for  without  waiting  for  any  farther 
questions  he  hopped  out  of  the  room,  and  I  saw 
him,  soon  after,  crawling  softly  up  the  hill,  as  if  on 
the  look  out  for  some  of  the  thieves  Sir  John  had 
Bpoken  of. 

I,  too,  went  off  upon  the  watch.  I  took  my  way 
dlong  the  bank,  I  glided  among  the  bushes,  ran 
after  a  young  fox  whose  sharp  nose  I  spied  pointed 
up  a  tree,  but  without  catching  him,  and  finally 
returned  to  my  new  home  by  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. Nip  came  in  shortly  after,  and  we  sat  down 
to  our  dinner. 

Although  this  portion  of  my  life  was,  perhaps, 
the  happiest  I  have  ever  known,  it  has  few  events 
worth  relating.  The  stormy  scenes  which  are  so 
painful  to  the  dog  who  suffers  them,  are  those  which 
are  most  interesting  to  the  hearer,  while  the  quiet 
days,  that  glide  peacefully  away,  are  so  like  each 
other,  that  an  account  of  one  of  them  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  many.  A  few  hours  can  be  so  full  of  action, 
as  to  require  volumes  to  describe  them  properly, 
and  the  history  of  whole  years  can  be  written  on  a 
single  page. 
15* 


174  Adventures  of  a  Doa. 

I  tried,  as  I  became  fixed  in  my  new  position,  to 
do  what  I  had  resolved  when  I  entered  it ;  namely, 
my  duty.  I  think  I  succeeded ;  I  certainly  obtained 
my  master's  praise,  and  sometimes  my  own ;  for  I 
had  a  habit  of  talking  to  myself  as  Nip  so  rarely 
opened  his  mouth,  and  would  praise  or  blame  my- 
self just  as  I  thought  I  deserved  it,  I  am  afraid  I 
was  not  always  just,  but  too  often  said,  "  Well  done, 
Job;  that's  right,  Job;"  when  I  ought  to  have 
called  out,  "  You're  wrong.  Job ;  you  ought  to  feel, 
Job,  that  you're  wrong;"  but  it  is  not  so  easy  a 
thing  to  be  just,  even  to  ourselves. 

One  good  lesson  I  learned  in  that  little  cottage, 
which  has  been  of  use  to  me  all  my  life  through : 
And  that  was,  to  be  very  careful  about  judging 
dogs  by  their  looks.  There  was  old  Nip ;  when  I 
first  saw  him,  I  thought  I  had  never  beheld  such 
an  ugly  fellow  in  my  life,  and  could  not  imagine 
how  anything  good  was  to  be  expected  from  so 
cross  a  looking,  ragged  old  hound.  And  yet,  no- 
thing could  be  more  beautiful,  more  loveable  than 
dear  old  Nip,  when  you  came  to  know  him  well. 
All  the  misfortunes  he  had  suffered,  all  the  knocks 
he  had  received  in  passing  through  the  world, 
seemed  to  have  made  his  heart  more  tender,  and 
he  was  so  entirely  good-natured,  that  in  all  the 
time  we  were  together,  I  never  heard  him  say  an 
unkind  thing  of  living  or  dead  animal.  I  believe 
his  very  silence  was  caused  by  the  goodness  of  his 
disposition ;  for  as  he  could  not  help  seeing  many 
things  he  did  not  like,  but  could  not  alter,  he  pre- 
ferred holding  his  tongue  to  saying  what  could  not 


Ups  and  Downs.  175 

be  agreeable.  Dear,  dear  Nip,  if  ever  it  should  be 
resolved  to  erect  a  statue  of  goodness  in  the  public 
place  of  Caneville,  they  ought  to  take  you  for  a 
model ;  you  would  not  be  so  pleasant  to  look  on  as 
many  finer  dogs,  but  when  once  known,  your  image 
would  be  loved,  dear  Nip,  as  I  learned  to  love  the 
rugged  original. 

It  can  be  of  no  interest  to  you  to  hear  the  many 
fights  we  had  in  protecting  the  property  of  our 
master  during  the  first  few  moons  after  my  arrival. 
Almost  every  night  we  were  put  in  danger  of  our 
lives,  for  the  curs  came  in  such  large  numbers  that 
there  was  a  chance  of  our  being  pulled  to  pieces  in 
the  struggle.  Yet  we  kept  steady  watch;  and, 
after  a  time,  finding,  I  suppose  that  we  were  never 
sleeping  at  our  post,  and  that  our  courage  rose  with 
every  fresh  attack,  the  thieves  gradually  gave  up 
open  war,  and  only  sought  to  entrap  the  birds  by 
artifice ;  and,  like  the  foxes  and  cats,  came  sneak- 
ing into  the  grounds,  and  trusted  to  the  swiftness 
of  their  legs  rather  than  the  sharpness  of  their  teeth 
when  Nip  or  I  caught  sight  of  them. 

And  thus,  a  long,  long  time  passed  away.  I 
had,  meanwhile,  grown  to  my  full  size,  and  was 
yery  strong  and  active ;  not  so  stout  as  I  have  got 
in  these  later  years,  when  my  toes  sometimes  ache 
with  the  weight  which  rests  on  them,  but  robust 
and  agile,  and  as  comely,  I  believe,  as  most  dogs 
of  my  age  and  descent. 

The  uniformity  of  my  life,  which  I  have  spoken 
of  as  making  me  so  happy,  was  interrupted  only 
by  incidents  that  did  not  certainly  cause  me  dis- 


176  Adtentures  of  a  Doo 

pleasure.  I  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  "  Fida,'' 
no  longer  little  Fida,  for  she  had  grovrn  to  be  a 
beautiful  lady-dog.  Our  second  meeting  was  by 
chance,  but  we  talked  like  old  friends,  so  much 
had  our  first  done  to  remove  all  strangeness.  I 
don't  think  the  next  time  we  saw  each  other  was 
quite  by  accident.  If  I  remember  rightlj^,  it  was 
not;  and  we  often  met  afterwards.  We  agreed 
that  we  should  do  all  we  could  to  assist  one  another, 
though  what  /  could  do  for  so  rich  and  clever  a 
lady-dog  I  could  not  imagine,  although  I  made  the 
promise  very  willingly.  On  her  part,  she  did  for 
me  what  I  can  never  sufficiently  repay.  She  taught 
me  to  read,  lending  me  books,  containing  strange 
stories  of  far  off  countries,  and  beautiful  poetry, 
written  by  some  deep  dogs  of  the  city ;  she  taught 
me  to  write ;  and  in  order  to  exercise  me,  made  me 
compose  letters  to  herself,  which  Nip  carried  to 
her,  bringing  me  back  such  answers  as  would  as- 
tonish you  ;  for  when  you  thought  you  had  got  to 
the  end,  they  began  all  over  again  in  another  direc- 
tion. Besides  these,  she  taught  me  to  speak  and 
act  properly,  in  the  way  that  well-behaved  dogs 
ought  to  do ;  for  I  had  been  used  to  the  company 
of  such  low  and  poor  animals,  that  it  was  not  sur- 
prising if  I  should  make  sad  blunders  in  speech 
and  manners.  I  need  not  say  that  she  taught  me 
to  love  herself,  for  that  you  will  guess  I  had  done 
from  the  first  day  I  saw  her,  when  I  was  wet  from 
my  jump  in  the  river,  and  she  spoke  to  me  such 
flattering  words.  No;  she  could  not  teach  me 
more  love  for  herself  than  I  already  knew.     That 


Ups  and  Downs.  177 

lesson   had  been  learnt  by  hearty  and  at  a  single 
sitting. 

Our  peaceful  days  were  drawing  to  a  close.  Sir 
John  died.  Lady  Bull  lived  on  for  a  short  tiinb 
longer.  Many  said,  when  she  followed,  that  she 
ate  herself  to  death;  but  I  mention  the  rumour  in 
order  to  deny  it,  for  I  am  sure  it  was  grief  that 
killed  her.  It  is  a  pity  some  dogs  will  repeat 
everything  they  hear,  without  considering  the  mis- 
chief such  tittle-tattle  may  occasion — although  it 
has  been  asserted  by  many  that  in  this  case  the 
false  intelligence  came  from  the  Cats,  who  had  no 
great  affection  for  poor  Lady  Bull.  Whatever  the 
cause,  she  died,  and  with  her  the  employment  of 
poor  Nip  and  myself.  The  young  Bulls  who  came 
into  possession  of  the  estate,  sold  the  preserves  to 
a  stranger,  and  as  the  new  proprietor  intended 
killing  off  the  birds,  and  did  not  require  keepers, 
there  being  no  longer  anything  for  them  to  do,  we 
were  turned  upon  the  world. 

The  news  came  upon  us  so  suddenly,  that  we 
were  quite  unprepared  for  it ;  and  we  were,  besides, 
so  far  from  being  rich,  that  it  was  a  rather  serious 
matter  to  find  out  how  we  should  live  until  we 
could  get  some  other  occupation.  I  was  not  troubled 
for  myself;  for,  though  I  had  been  used  to  good 
feeding  lately,  I  did  not  forget  the  time  when  1 
was  often  forced  to  go  the  whole  day  with  scarce  a 
bit  to  eat ;  but  the  thought  of  how  poor  old  Nip 
would  manage  gave  me  some  pain. 

Having  bid  adieu  to  the  peaceful  cottage,  where 
re  had  spent  such  happy  times,  we  left  the  green 


178  Advkntures  of  a  Doa. 

fields  and  pleasant  trees  and  proceeded  to  the  town, 
where,  after  some  difficulty,  we  found  a  humble 
little  house  which  suited  our  change  of  fortune. 
Here  we  began  seriously  to  muse  over  what  wo 
should  do.  I  proposed  making  a  ferry-boat  of  my 
back,  and  stationing  myself  at  the  water-side  near 
the  "  Mews,"  swim  across  the  river  with  such  cata 
as  required  to  go  over  and  did  not  like  to  walk  aa 
far  as  where  the  boat  was  accustomed  to  be.  By 
these  means  I  calculated  on  making  enough  money 
to  keep  us  both  comfortably.  Nip  thought  not. 
He  said  that  the  cats  would  not  trust  me — few  cats 
ever  did  trust  the  dogs — and  then,  though  he  did 
not  dislike  cats,  not  at  all,  for  he  knew  a  great 
many  very  sensible  cats,  and  very  good  ones  too, 
he  did  not  like  the  idea  of  seeing  his  friend  walked 
over  by  cats  or  dogs,  or  any  other  animal,  stranger 
or  domestic.  Besides,  there  were  other  objections. 
Strong  as  I  was,  I  could  not  expect,  if  I  made  a 
boat  of  myself,  that  I  could  go  on  and  on  without 
wanting  repair  any  more  than  a  real  boat;  but 
where  was  the  carpenter  to  put  me  to  rights,  or  take 
out  my  rotten  timbers  and  put  in  fresh  ones.  No ; 
that  would  not  do ;  we  must  think  of  something 


It  must  not  be  imagined  that  Nip  made  all  this 
long  speech  in  one  breath,  or  in  a  dozen  breaths. 
It  took  him  a  whole  morning  to  explain  himself 
even  as  clearly  as  I  have  tried  to  do ;  and  perhaps 
I  may  still  have  written  what  he  did  not  quite 
intend,  for  his  words  came  out  with  a  jump  one  or 
twc  at  a  time,  and  often  so  suddenly  that  it  would 


Ups  and  Downs.  179 

have  startled  a  dog  who  was  not  used  to  his 
manner. 

Nip  himself  made  the  next  proposal,  and  though 
I  did  not  exactly  like  it,  there  seemed  so  little 
choice,  that  I  at  once  agreed  to  do  ray  part  in  the 
scheme.  Nip  was  the  son  of  a  butcher,  and  thougii 
he  had  followed  the  trade  but  a  short  time  himself, 
he  was  a  very  good  judge  of  meat.  He,  therefore, 
explained  that  if  I  would  undertake  to  become  the 
seller,  he  would  purchase  and  prepare  the  meat,  and 
he  thought  he  could  make  it  look  nice  enough  to 
induce  the  dogs  to  come  and  buy. 

Our  stock  of  money  being  very  small,  a  house- 
shop  was  out  of  the  question,  so  there  was  no 
chance  of  getting  customers  from  the  better  class, — 
a  thing  which  I  regretted,  as  I  had  little  taste  for 
the  society  of  the  vulgar;  but,  again,  as  it  could 
not  be  helped,  the  only  thing  to  do  w^as  to  make 
the  best  of  it  A  wheelbarrow  was  therefore 
bought  by  Nip,  with  what  else  was  necessary  to 
make  me  a  complete  "  walking  butcher,"  and  hav- 
ing got  in  a  stock  of  meat  the  day  before,  Nip  cut, 
and  contrived,  and  shaped,  and  skewered,  in  so 
quiet  and  business-like  a  way  as  proved  he  knew 
perfectly  well  what  he  was  about.  With  early 
morning,  after  Nip  had  arranged  my  dress  with  the 
same  care  as  he  had  bestowed  upon  the  barrow  and 
its  contents,  I  wheeled  my  shop  into  the  street,  and 
amid  a  great  many  winks  of  satisfaction  from  my 
dear  old  friend,  I  went  trudging  along,  bringing 
many  a  doggess  to  the  windows  of  the  little  houses 
by  my  loud  cry  of  "  Me-eet  I    Fresh  me-eet  i" 


180  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

As  I  was  strange  in  my  new  business,  and  did 
not  feel  quite  at  my  ease,  I  fancied  every  dog  I 
met,  and  every  eye  that  peeped  from  door  and  case- 
ment, stared  at  me  in  a  particular  manner,  as  if 
they  knew  I  was  playing  my  part  for  the  first  time, 
and  were  watching  to  see  how  I  did  it.  The  looks 
that  were  cast  at  my  meat,  were  all,  I  thought,  in- 
tended for  me,  and  when  a  little  puppy  leered 
suspiciously  at  the  barrow  as  he  was  crossing  the 
road,  no  doubt  to  see  that  it  did  not  run  over  him, 
I  could  only  imagine  that  he  was  thinking  of  the 
strange  figure  I  made,  and  my  awkward  attempt  at 
getting  a  living.  Feelings  like  these  no  doubt  alarm 
every  new  beginner;  but  time  and  habit,  if  they 
do  not  reconcile  us  to  our  lot,  will  make  it  at  least 
easier  to  perform,  and  thus,  after  some  two  hours' 
journeying  through  the  narrow  lanes  of  Canevillo, 
I  did  what  my  business  required  of  me  with  more 
assurance  than  when  I  first  set  out. 

One  thing,  however,  was  very  distasteful  to  me, 
and  I  could  so  little  bear  to  see  it,  that  I  even  spoke 
of  it  aloud,  and  ran  the  risk  of  offending  some  of 
my  customers.  I  mean  the  way  in  which  several 
of  the  dogs  devoured  the  meat  after  they  had  bought 
it.  You  will  think  that  when  they  had  purchased 
their  food  and  paid  for  it,  they  had  a  right  to  eat  it 
as  they  pleased :  I  confess  it ;  nothing  can  be  more 
true;  but  still,  my  ideas  had  so  changed  of  late, 
that  it  annoyed  me  very  much  to  see  many  of  these 
curs,  living  as  they  did  in  the  most  civilized  city  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  gnawing  their  meat  as  they 
held  it  on  the  ground  with  their  paws,  and  growl 


Ups  and  Downs.  181 

ing  if  any  one  came  near  as  though  there  was  nc 
such  thing  as  a  police  in  Caneville.  I  forgot  when 
I  was  scolding  these  poor  dogs,  that  perhaps  they 
had  never  been  taught  better,  and  deserved  pity 
rather  than  blame.  I  forgot  too  that  I  had  myself 
behaved  as  they  did  before  I  had  been  blessed  with 
happier  fortune,  and  that  even  then,  if  I  had  looked 
into  my  own  conduct,  I  should  have  found  many 
things  more  worthy  of  censure  than  these  poor 
curs'  mode  of  devouring  their  food. 

The  lane  I  was  passing  along  was  cut  across  by 
a  broad  and.  open  street,  the  favourite  promenade 
of  the  fashionables  of  Caneville,  There  might  be 
seen  about  mid-day,  when  the  sun  was  shining, 
troops  of  well-dressed  dogs  and  a  few  superior 
cats,  some  attended  by  servants,  others  walking 
alone,  and  many  in  groups  of  two  or  three,  the 
male  dogs  smoking  cigars,  the  ladies  busily  talking, 
while  they  looked  at  and  admired  one  another's 
pretty  dresses  and  bonnets. 

By  the  time  I  had  got  thus  far,  I  had  become 
tolerably  used  to  my  new  work,  and  could  imagine 
that  when  the  passers  by  cast  their  eyes  on  mj 
barrow,  their  glances  had  more  to  do  with  the 
meat  than  with  myself.  But  I  did  not  like  the 
idea  of  crossing  the  road  where  such  grand  dogs 
were  showing  off  their  finery.  After  a  little  in- 
ward conversation  with  myself,  which  finished 
with  my  muttering  between  my  teeth,  "Job,  bro- 
ther Job,  I  am  ashamed  of  you  I  where  is  youi 
courage,  brother  Job  ?  Go  oa ;  go  on ;"  I  went  on 
without  further  delay. 
16 


182  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

I  had  got  half-way  across,  and  was  already  be* 
ginning  to  praise  myself  for  the  ease  with  wliich  1 
turned  my  barrow  in  and  out  of  the  crowd  without 
running  over  the  toes  of  any  of  the  puppies,  who 
were  far  too  much  engaged  to  look  after  them  them- 
selves, when  a  dirty  little  cur  stopped  me  to  buy  a 
penn'orth  of  meat.  I  set  down  my  load  just  in 
time  to  avoid  upsetting  a  very  fat  and  splendidly 
dressed  doggess,  who  must,  if  I  had  ran  the  wheel 
into  her  back,  and  it  was  very  near  it,  have  gone 
head  foremost  into  the  barrow.  This  little  incident 
made  me  very  hot,  and  I  did  not  get  cooler  when 
my  customer  squatted  down  in  the  midst  of  the 
well-dressed  crowd,  and  began  tearing  his  meat  in 
the  way  I  have  before  described  as  being  so  un- 
pleasant. At  the  same  moment  another  dog  by 
his  side,  with  a  very  ragged  coat,  and  queer  little 
face,  held  up  his  paw  to  ask  for  "  a  little  bit,"  as 
he  was  very  hungry,  "only  a  little  bit."  I  should, 
probably,  have  given  him  a  morsel,  as  I  remem- 
bered the  time  when  I  wanted  it  as  much  as  he 
seemed  to  do,  but  for  an  unexpected  meeting. 
Turning  my  head  at  a  rustling  just  behind  me,  I 
saw  a  well-dressed  dog  with  a  hat  of  the  last  fash- 
ion placed  so  nicely  on  his  head  that  it  seemed  to 
be  resting  on  the  bridge  of  his  nose,  the  smoke 
from  a  cigar  issuing  gracefully  from  his  mouth, 
and  his  head  kept  in  an  upright  posture  by  a  very 
stiff  collar  which  ran  round  the  back  of  his  neck, 
and  entirely  prevented  his  turning  round  his  head 
without  a  great  deal  of  care  and  deliberation,  while 
a  tuft  of  hair  curled  nicely  from  beneath  his  chin, 


Ups  and  Downs.  183 

and  gave  a  fine  finish  to  the  whole  dog.  But 
though  I  have  spoken  of  this  Caneville  fashiona- 
ble, it  was  not  he  who  caused  the  rustling  noise,  or 
who  most  attracted  mj  attention.  Tripping  be- 
side him,  with  her  soft  paw  beneath  his,  was  a 
ladv-dog  whose  very  dress  told  her  name,  at  least 
in  my  eyes,  before  I  saw  her  face.  I  felt  sure  that 
it  was  Fida,  and  I  wished  myself  anywhere  rather 
than  in  front  of  that  barrow  with  an  ill-bred  cur  at 
my  feet  gnawing  the  penn'orth  of  meat  he  had  just 
bought  of  me.  Before  I  had  time  to  catch  up  my 
load  and  depart,  a  touch  on  my  shoulder,  so  gentle 
that  it  would  not  have  hurt  a  fly,  and  yet  which 
made  me  tremble  more  than  if  it  had  been  the  grip 
of  a  giant  animal,  forced  me  again  to  turn.  It  ivas 
Fida;  as  beautiful  and  as  fresh  as  ever,  who  gave  me 
a  sweet  smile  of  recognition  and  encouragement  as 
she  passed  with  her  companion,  and  left  me  stand- 
ing there  as  stupid  and  uncomfortable  as  if  I  had 
been  caught  doing  something  wrong. 

You  will  say  that  it  was  very  ridiculous  in  me 
to  feel  so  ashamed  and  disconcerted  at  being  seen 
by  her  or  any  other  dog  or  doggess  in  my  common 
dress,  and  following  an  honest  occupation.  I  do 
not  deny  it.  And  in  telling  you  these  things  I 
have  no  wish  to  spare  myself,  I  have  no  excuse  to 
offer,  but  only  to  relate  events  and  describe  feelings 
precisely  as  thev  were. 


\ 


184  Adventures  of  a  Doo. 


THE  INUNDATION. 


n^HAT  evening  it  seemed  as  if  Nip  and  I  had 
-^  changed  characters.  It  v/as  he  who  did  all  the 
talking,  while  I  sat  in  a  corner,  full  of  thought, 
and  answered  yes  or  no  to  everything  he  said, 
and  sometimes  in  the  wrong  place,  I  am  sure ;  for 
once  or  twice  he  looked  at  me  very  attentively, 
and  winked,  in  a  way  which  proved  that  he  was 
puzzled  by  my  manner. 

The  reason  of  his  talkativeness  was  the  success 
I  had  attained  in  my  tirst  morning's  walk,  for  I  had 
sold  nearly  all  the  meat,  and  brought  home  a  poc- 
ket full  of  small  money.  The  cause  of  my  silence 
was  the  unexpected  meeting  with  Fida,  and  the 
annoyance  I  felt  at  having  been  seen  by  her  in 
such  a  position.  This  was  the  first  time  I  had  set 
eyes  on  her  for  several  days.  When  we  left  our 
pretty  country  lodging,  I  wrote  her  a  letter,  which 
Nip  carried  as  usual  to  her  house,  but  he  was  told 
that  she  had  gone  on  a  visit  to  some  friends  at  a 
distance,  but  that  the  letter  should  be  given  to  her 
on  her  return.  I  had  not,  therefore,  been  able  to 
inform  her  of  what  we  had  been  compelled  to  do, 
as  I  would  have  wished,  but  thus,  without  prepa- 
ration, quite  unexpectedly,  I  had  been  met  by  hei 
in  the  public  street,  acting  the  poor  dogs'  butcher 
with  the  implements  of  my  business  before  nie, 
and  a  dirty  cur  growling  cjid  gnawing  his  dinnei 


The  Inundation.  185 

at  my  feet.  What  made  the  matter  more  serious, 
for  serious  it  seemed  to  me,  though  I  can  but  smile 
now  to  think  why  such  a  thing  should  have  made 
me  uncomfortable,  was,  that  the  whole  scene  had 
taken  place  in  so  open  a  part,  with  so  many  grand 
and  gay  dogs  all  round,  to  be  witnesses  of  my  con- 
fusion. I  did  not  reflect  that  of  all  the  puppies 
who  were  strutting  past,  there  was  probably  not 
one  who  could  have  remembered  so  common  an 
event  as  the  passing  of  a  butcher's  barrow ;  and 
that  if  they  looked  at  me  at  all,  it  was,  doubtless, 
for  no  other  reason  than  to  avoid  running  against 
my  greasy  coat  and  spoiling  their  fine  clothes. 
These  confessions  will  prove  to  you  that  I  was 
very  far  from  being  a  wise  dog  or  even  a  sensible 
one ;  all  the  books  I  had  read  had,  as  yet,  served 
no  other  purpose  than  that,  of  feeding  my  vanity 
and  making  me  believe  I  was  a  very  superior  ani 
mal ;  and  you  may  learn  from  this  incident  that 
those  who  wish  to  make  a  proper  figure  in  the 
world,  and  play  the  part  they  are  called  on  to  per- 
form in  a  decent  manner,  must  study  their  lesson 
in  the  world  itself,  by  mingling  with  their  fellows, 
for  books  alone  can  no  more  teach  such  knowl- 
edge than  it  can  teach  a  dog  to  swim  without  his 
going  into  the  water. 

Nip  and  I  had  our  dinner ;  and,  when  it  was 
over,  my  old  friend  went  out  to  procure  a  supply 
of  meat  for  the  next  day's  business.  I  sat  at  the 
window  with  my  nose  resting  on  the  ledge,  at  times 
watching  some  heavy  clouds  which  were  rolling 
up  the  sky,  as  if  to  attend  a  great  meeting  over- 
IG* 


I 


1 86  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

head ;  at  auother  moment,  looking  at  the  curs  in 
the  streets,  who  were  playing  all  sorts  of  games, 
which  generally  turned  into  a  fight,  and  often 
staring  at  the  house  opposite  without  seeing  a  sin- 
gle stone  in  the  wall,  but  in  their  place,  Fidas  and 
puppies  with  stiff  collars,  and  barrows  with  piles 
of  meat,  ready  cut  and  skewered.  I  was  awoke 
from  this  day-dream  by  the  voice  of  an  old,  but 
very  clean  Doggess,  enquiring  if  my  name  was  Mr. 
Job  ?  I  answered  that  I  was  so  called,  when  she 
drev/  from  her  pocket  and  gave  me  a  pink-coloured 
note,  which  smelt  like  a  nice  garden,  and  even 
brought  one  to  my  view  as  plainly  as  if  it  had  sud- 
denly danced  before  me,  and  saying  there  was  no 
reply,  returned  by  the  way  she  had  come. 

I  did  not  require  to  be  told  by  whom  it  was 
Bent.  I  knew  the  writing  too  well.  The  neat 
folding,  the  small  but  clean  address  assured  me 
that  a  lady's  paw  had  done  it  all,  and  every  word 
of  the  direction 


Q^MuiUer^   ^06, 

Ofn/  ^^  .^^^  Q^o^   ^^<W, 

Sf. 

^SSntfei^   ^a/ne^^i^. 

The  Inundation.  187 

spoke  to  me  of  Fida,  and  did  not  even  need  the  F. 
in  the  corner  to  convince  me  of  the  fact.  With 
her  permission  I  here  give  jou  the  contents : — 

*'My  dear  Job, 

"I  am  sorry  I  was  away  from  home  when 
your  letter  arrived,  and  would  have  told  you  I  was 
going,  but  that  I  thought  the  news  might  cause 
you  pain,  as  I  by  some  mischance  had  got  my  tail 
jammed  in  a  door,  and  was  forced  to  leave  home 
in  order  to  visit  a  famous  doctor  who  lives  at  some 
distance.  He  fortunately  cured  me  after  a  few 
days'  illness,  and  the  tail  wags  now  as  freely  as 
ever,  although  it  was  very  annoying,  as  well  as 
ridiculous,  to  see  me  walking  up  and  down  the 
room  with  that  wounded  member  so  wrapped  up 
that  it  was  as  thick  as  my  whole  body,  and  was 
quite  a  load  to  drag  about. 

'  But,  dear  Job,  I  do  not  write  this  to  talk  about 
myself,  though  I  am  forced  to  give  you  this  ex- 
planation of  my  silence:  what  I  wish  is  to  say 
something  about  you.  And,  to  begin,  as  you  have 
always  been  a  good  kind  dog,  and  listened  to  me 
patiently  when  I  have  praised,  you  must  now  be 
just  as  kind  and  good,  and  even  more  patient,  be 
cause  I  am  going  to  scold. 

"Dear  Job,  when  I  met  you  this  morning  in 
your  new  dress  and  occupation,  I  had  not  then 
read  your  letter.  I  had  but  just  returned,  and  was 
taking  a  walk  with  my  brother,  who  had  arrived 
from  abroad  during  my  absence.  I  knew  you  at 
once,  in  spite   of  your  change  of  costume,   and 


188  Adventures  of  a  Doo 

though  I  did  not  particularly  like  the  business  yea 
had  chosen,  I  felt  certain  you  had  good  reasons  for 
having  selected  it.  But  when  I  looked  in  your 
face,  instead  of  the  smile  of  welcome  which  I  ex- 
pected from  you,  I  could  read  nothing  but  shame, 
confusion,  and  annoyance.  Why  ?  dear  Job,  why  ? 
If  you  were  ashamed  of  your  occupation,  why  had 
you  chosen  it  ?  I  suppose  when  you  took  it  up, 
you  resolved  to  do  your  duty  in  it  properly ;  then 
why  feel  shame  because  your  friend  sees  you,  as  you 
must  have  thought  she  would  one  day  see  you, 
since  the  nature  of  your  new  business  carries  you 
into  different  parts  of  the  city  ? 

"  But,  dear  Job,  I  feel  certain,  and  I  would  like 
you  to  be  equally  sure,  that  there  is  no  need  of 
shame  in  following  any  business  which  is  honest, 
and  which  can  be  carried  on  without  doing  injury 
to  others.  It  is  not  the  business,  believe  me,  dear 
Job,  which  lowers  a  dog ;  he  himself  is  alone  capa- 
ble of  lowering  himself,  and  one  dog  may  be  truly 
good  and  noble,  though  he  drive  a  meat  barrow 
about  the  streets,  while  another  may  be  a  misera- 
ble, mean  animal,  though  living  in  a  palace  and 
never  soiling  his  paws. 

"  I  have  a  great  deal  more  to  say,  my  dear  Job, 
upon  this  subject,  but  I  must  leave  the  rest  till  I 
see  you.  I  have  already  crossed  and  recrossed  my 
note,  and  may  be  most  diffcult  to  understand  where 
I  most  want  to  be  clear.  Here  is  a  nice  open 
space,  however,  in  the  corner,  which  I  seize  on 
with  pleasure  to  write  myself  most  distinctly, 

*' Your  friend,  FiDA." 


The  Inundation.  189 

A  variety  of  feelings  passed  through  mv  oind 
as  I  read  these  lines.  But  they  were  all  lost  in  my 
wonder  at  Fida's  cleverness  in  being  able  to  I3ad 
my  face  as  if  it  had  been  a  book.  I  was  grateful 
to  her  for  the  good  advice  she  gave  me,  and  now 
felt  ashamed  for  having  been  ashamed  before. 
The  best  way  I  thought  to  prove  my  thankfulness, 
would  be  to  act  openly  and  naturally  as  Fida  had 
pointed  out,  for  I  could  not  help  confessing,  as  my 
eyes  looked  again  and  again  over  her  note,  that  she 
was  quite  right,  and  that  I  had  acted  like  a  very 
silly  animal. 

I  was  interrupted  during  my  reflections  by  the 
bursting  of  rain  upon  the  house-roofs,  and  the 
stream  which  rose  from  the  streets  as  the  large 
drops  came  faster  and  faster  down.  I  went  to  the 
door  to  look  for  my  old  friend,  but  not  a  dog  was 
to  be  seen.  I  was  surprised  at  the  sight  of  the 
sky,  where  I  had  observed  the  clouds  rising  a  little 
while  before,  for  now  those  same  clouds  looked 
like  big  rocks  piled  one  above  another,  with  patches 
of  light  shining  through  great  caverns. 

As  I  stared  eagerly  down  the  street,  torrents  of 
water  poured  from  above,  which,  instead  of  dimin- 
ishing, seemed  to  be  growing  more  terrible  every 
moment  I  had  never  seen  so  fearful  a  storm.  It 
did  not  appear  like  mere  rain  which  was  falling; 
the  water  came  down  in  broad  sheets,  and  changed 
the  road  into  a  river.  I  got  more  and  more  anx- 
ious about  old  Nip.  It  was  getting  dark,  and  I 
knew  he  was  not  strong.  My  hope  was  that  he 
had  taken  shelter  soF'.e\shere ;   but   I   could  not 


190  Adventures  op  a  Doo. 

rest,  for  I  was  sure  he  would  try  and  get  home  if 
only  to  quiet  me.  While  running  in  and  out  in 
my  anxiety — the  water  having  meanwhile  risen 
above  the  sill  of  the  door,  and  poured  into  our  lit' 
tie  house,  where  it  was  already  above  my  paws — I 
spied  a  dark  figure  crawling  along  the  street,  and 
with  great  difficulty  making  way  against  the  beat- 
ing of  the  storm.  I  at  once  rushed  out,  and  swim- 
ming rather  than  running  towards  the  object,  I 
found  my  poor  friend  almost  spent  with  fatigue  and 
scarcely  able  to  move,  having  a  heavy  load  to  carry 
besides  his  own  old  limbs,  which  were  not  fit  to 
battle  with  such  a  tempest.  I  caught  up  his  pack- 
age, and  assisting  him  as  well  as  I  was  able,  we  at 
length  got  to  our  cottage,  though  we  were  forced 
to  get  upon  the  bench  that  stood  by  the  wall  to 
keep  our  legs  out  of  the  water.  The  rain  had  now 
become  a  perfect  deluge.  A  stream  of  water  went 
hissing  down  the  street,  and  rushed  in  and  out  of 
the  houses  as  if  thej^  had  been  baths. 

When  Nip  recovered  breath,  he  told  me  that 
terrible  things  were.- happening  in  the  parts  of  the 
city  by  the  waterside.  The  river  had  swollen  so 
much,  that  some  kennels  had  been  carried  away 
by  the  current,  and  it  was  impossible  to  learn  how 
many  poor  dogs  had  been  drowned.  This  news 
made  me  jump  again  from  the  bench  where  I  had 
been  sitting. 

*' What  is  it?"  said  Nip. 

"  I  am  going  out,  Nip,"  replied  I.  "  I  must  not 
be  idle  here,  when  I  can,  perhaps,  be  of  use  some- 
where else." 


The  Inundation.  .  191 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Nip  ;  "  but,  Job,  strong  as 
you  are^  the  storm  is  stronger." 

"Yes,  Nip,"  answered  I;  "but  there  are  dogs 
weaker  than  myself  who  may  require  such  assist- 
ance as  I  can  give  them,  and  it  is  not  a  time  for  a 
dog  to  sit  with  his  tail  curled  round  him,  when 
there  are  fellow-creatures  who  may  want  a  helping 
paw.  So  good  bye,  old  friend;  try  and  go  to 
sleep ;  you  have  done  your  duty  as  long  as  your 
strength  let  you,  it  is  now  for  me  to  do  mine." 
Without  waiting  for  a  reply,  I  rushed  out  at  the 
door. 

It  did  not  need  much  exertion  to  get  through 
our  street  or  the  next,  or  the  next  after  that,  for  as 
they  all  sloped  downwards,  the  water  more  than 
once  took  me  off  my  legs  and  carried  me  along. 
Sad  as  Nip's  news  had  been,  I  was  not  prepared 
for  the  terrible  scene  which  met  my  eyes  when  I 
got  near  the  river.  The  houses  at  the  lower  part 
of  the  street  I  had  reached,  had  been  swept  away 
by  the  torrent,  and  a  crowd  of  shivering  doga 
stood  looking  at  the  groaning  river  as  it  rolled 
past  in  great  waves,  as  white  as  milk,  in  which  black 
objects,  either  portions  of  some  kennel,  or  articles 
of  furniture,  were  floating.  Every  now  and  then, 
a  howl  would  break  from  a  doggess  in  the  crowds 
as  a  dead  body  was  seen  tossed  about  by  the  angrj 
water,  and  the  same  dolorous  cries  might  be  heard 
from  different  quarters  mixed  up  with  the  roar  of 
the  river. 

While  standing  with  a  group  of  three  or  four 
Blaring  with  astonishment  at  the  frightful  scene, 


193  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

uncertain  wbat  to  do,  a  howl  was  heard  from 
another  direction,  so  piercing  that  it  made  many 
of  us  run  to  learn  the  cause.  The  pale  light  show- 
ed us  that  the  torrent  had  snapped  the  supports  ot 
a  house  at  some  distance  from  the  river's  bank,  but 
which  the  swollen  stream  had  now  reached,  and 
carried  away  at  least  half  the  building.  By  some 
curious  chance,  the  broken  timbers  had  become 
fixed  for  the  moment  in  the  boiling  water,  which, 
angry  at  the  obstruction,  was  rushing  round  or  fly- 
ing completely  over  them,  and  it  was  easy  to  see, 
that  in  a  very  short  time  the  mass  would  be  swept 
away.  Upon  the  timbers  thus  exposed,  were  three 
little  pups  scarce  two  months  old,  yelping  most 
dismally  as  they  crouched  together,  or  crawled  to 
the  edge  of  their  raft,  while  on  the  floor  of  the 
ruin  from  which  this  side  had  been  torn  away, 
was  their  poor  mother,  whose  fearful  howl  had  at- 
tracted us  thither,  and  who  was  running  from  side 
to  side  of  the  shattered  hut  as  if  she  were  frantic. 

Great  as  the  danger  was,  I  could  not  bear  to 
think  the  wretched  mother  should  see  her  little 
ones  swallowed  up  by  the  stormy  water,  before  her 
very  eyes,  without  a  single  attempt  being  made  to 
octve  tnem.  Although  I  could  scarcely  hope  even 
to  reach  them  in  safety,  and  in  no  case  could  bring 
more  than  one  of  them  to  land  at  once,  if  I  even 
got  so  far,  I  resolved  to  make  the  trial.  Better 
save  one,  I  thought,  than  let  all  die. 

Holding  my  breath,  I  launched  into  the  current 
m  the  direction  of  the  raft,  and  soon  found  that  I 
had  not  been  >rrong  in  calculating  the  diificulties 


The  Inundation.  193 

and  dangers  of  the  undertaking.  It  was  not  the 
water  alone  which  made  the  peril  so  great,  though 
the  eddies  seemed  at  every  moment  to  be  pulling 
me  to  the  bottom,  but  there  were  so  many  things 
rushing  along  with  the  stream  as  to  threaten  to 
crush  me  as  they  flew  by.  and  had  they  struck  me, 
there  is  no  doubt  there  would  have  been  an  end 
of  my  adventures.  Avoiding  them  all,  though  I 
know  not  how,  I  was  getting  near  the  spot  where 
the  little  pups  were  crying  for  their  mother,  w^hen 
I  felt  myself  caught  in  an  eddy  and  dragged  be- 
neath the  water.  Without  losing  courage,  but  not 
allowing  myself  to  breathe,  I  made  a  strong  effort 
and  at  last  got  my  head  above  the  surface  again, 
but  where  was  the  raft?  Where  were  the  helpless 
puppies  ?  All  had  gone — not  a  trace  was  left  to 
tell  where  they  had  been — the  river  foamed  over 
the  spot  that  had  held  them  for  a  time,  and  was 
now  rushing  along  as  if  boasting  of  its  strength. 

Seeing  my  intentions  thus  defeated,  I  turned  my 
head  towards  the  shore,  resolving  to  swim  to  land. 
To  my  surprise,  I  found  that  I  made  no  progress. 
I  put  out  all  my  strength — I  fought  with  the  water 
— I  threw  myself  forward — it  was  in  vain — I  could 
not  move  a  paw's  breadth  against  the  current.  I 
turned  to  another  point — I  again  used  every  exer- 
tion— all  was  useless — I  felt  my  tired  limbs  sink 
under  me — I  felt  the  stream  sweeping  me  away — 
my  head  turned  round  in  the  agony  of  that  moment, 
and  I  moaned  aloud. 

My  strength  was  now  gone — I  could  scarce  move 
a  paw  to  keep  my  head  down  the  river.  A  dark 
17 


194  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

object  came  near  me — it  was  a  large  piece  of  tim 
ber,  probably  a  portion  of  some  ruined  building. 
Seizing  it  as  well  as  my  weakness  would  permit 
me,  I  laid  my  paws  over  the  floating  wood,  and, 
dragging  my  body  a  little  more  out  of  the  water, 
got  some  rest  from  my  terrible  labours. 

Where  was  I  hurrying  to?  I  knew  not.  Every 
familiar  object  must  have  been  long  passed,  bat  it 
was  too  obscure  to  make  out  anything  except  the 
angry  torrent.  On,  on  I  went,  in  darkness  and  in 
fear — yes,  great  fear,  not  of  death,  but  a  fear  caused 
by  the  strangeness  of  my  position,  and  the  uncer- 
tainty before  me — on,  on,  till  the  black  shores 
seemed  to  flj  from  each  other,  and  the  river  to 
grow  and  grc  v  until  all  land  had  disappeared,  and 
nothing  but  the  water  met  my  aching  eyes.  I 
closed  them  o  shut  out  the  scene,  and  tried  to  for- 
get my  misf -y. 

Had  I  slept?  And  what  was  the  loud  noise 
which  startled  me  so  that  I  had  nearly  let  go  my 
hold  ?  I  roused  myself — I  looked  around — I  was 
tossing  up  and  down  with  a  regular  motion,  but 
could  see  nothing  clearl}?-.  I  was  no  longer  carried 
forward  so  swiftly  as  before,  but  the  dim  light  pre- 
vented me  making  out  the  place  I  was  now  in. 

Suddenly,  a  flash  broke  from  the  black  clouds, 
and  for  a  single  moment  shed  a  blue  light  over 
everything.  What  a  spectacle !  All  around,  for 
miles  and  miles  and  miles,  was  nothing  but  dancing 
water,  like  shining  hills  with  milky  tops,  but  not 
a  living  creature  beside  mj^self  to  keep  me  com- 
pany, or  say  a  kind  word,  or  listen  to  me,  when  J 


Pains  and  Pleasures.  106 

spoke,  or  pity  me  when  I  moaned !  Oh  I  who 
could  tell  what  I  then  felt,  what  I  feared,  and  what 
I  suffered  !     Alone  !  alone  I 

When  I  think,  as  I  often  do  now  of  that  terrible 
scene,  and  figure  to  m3^self  my  drenched  body 
clinging  to  that  piece  of  timber,  I  seem  to  feel  a 
strange  pity  for  the  miserable  dog  thus  left  as  it 
seemed  to  die,  away  from  all  his  fellows,  without  a 
friendly  howl  raised,  to  show  there  was  a  single 
being  to  regret  his  loss — and  I  cannot  help  at  such 
times  murmuring  to  myself  as  if  it  were  some  other 
animal.     "  Poor  Job  1  poor  dog  1" 

I  remember  a  dimness  coming  over  my  eyes  after 
I  had  beheld  that  world  of  water — I  have  a  faint 
recollection  of  thinking  of  Fida — of  poor  Nip — of 
the  drowning  puppies  I  had  tried  in  vain  to  save 
— of  my  passing  through  the  streets  of  Caneville 
with  my  meat-barrow,  and  wondering  how  I  could 
have  been  so  foolish  as  to  feel  ashamed  of  doing 
so — and  then — and  then — I  remember  nothing 
more. 


PAINS  AND  PLEASURES. 

WHEN  I  again  opened  my  eyes  after  the  deep 
sleep  which  had  fallen  upon  me,  mornirg 
was  just  breaking,  and  a  grey  light  was  in  the  sky 
and  on  the  clouds  which  dotted  it  all  over. 

As  I  looked  round,  you  may  well  think,  with 
bope  and  anxiety,  still  nothing  met  my  view  but 


1^6  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

the  great  world  of  water,  broken  up  into  a  multi 
tude  of  little  hills.  I  now  understood  that  I  was 
on  the  sea,  where  I  had  been  borne  bj  the  rushing 
river ;  that  sea  of  which  I  had  often  read,  but  which 
I  could  form  no  idea  about  till  this  moment. 

The  sad  thought  struck  me  that  I  must  stop 
there,  tossed  about  by  the  wind  and  beaten  by  the 
waves,  until  I  should  die  of  hunger,  or  that,  spent 
with  fatigue,  my  limbs  would  refuse  to  sustain  me 
longer,  and  I  should  be  devoured  by  some  of  the 
monsters  of  the  deep,  who  are  always  on  the  watch 
fur  prey. 

Such  reflections  did  not  help  to  make  my  posi- 
tion more  comfortable,  and  it  was  painful  enough 
in  itself  without  them.  It  was  certain,  however, 
that  complaint  or  sorrow  could  be  of  no  service, 
and  might  be  just  the  contrary,  as  the  indulging  in 
either  would,  probably,  prevent  my  doing  what  v/as 
necessary  to  try  and  save  myself  should  an  oppor- 
tunity offer. 

The  gray  light,  in  the  meantime,  had  become 
warmer  and  warmer  in  its  tone,  until  the  face  of 
every  cloud  towards  the  east  was  tinged  with  gold. 
While  I  was  admiring  the  beautiful  sight,  for  it 
was  so  beautiful  that  it  made  me  forget  for  a  time 
my  sad  position,  my  eyes  were  caught  hy  the  shin- 
ing arch  of  the  rising  sun,  as  it  sprang  all  of  a 
sudden  above  the  surface  of  the  sea.  Oh  I  never 
shall  I  forget  the  view  I  Between  me  and  the  bril- 
liant orb  lay  a  pathway  of  gold,  which  rose,  and 
fell,  and  glittered,  and  got  at  last  so  broad  and 
dasszling,  that  my  eyes  could  look  at  it  no  longer. 


Pains  and  Pleasures.  107 

I  knew  it  was  but  the  sun's  light  upon  the  water 
but  it  looked  so  firm,  that  I  could  almost  fancy  1 
should  be  able  to  spring  upon  it,  and  run  on  and 
on,  until  I  reached  some  friendly  country.  But 
alas  I  there  seemed  little  chance  of  such  a  thing 
happening  as  my  ever  reaching  land  again. 

As  the  sun  got  high  up,  and  poured  his  rays  on 
to  the  sea,  I  began  to  feel  a  craving  for  food,  and, 
though  surrounded  with  water,  yet  the  want  of 
some  to  drink.  "When  the  thirst  came  upon  me,  I. 
at  first  lapped  up  a  few  drops  of  the  sea-water  with 
avidity,  but  I  soon  found  that  it  was  not  fit  to  drink, 
and  that  the  little  I  had  taken  only  made  my  thirst 
the  greater.  In  the  midst  of  my  suffering,  a  poor 
bird  came  fluttering  heavily  along,  as  if  his  wings 
were  scarce  able  to  support  his  weight.  Every 
little  object  was  interesting  to  me  just  then,  and  as 
I  sat  upon  my  piece  of  timber  I  looked  up  at  the 
trembling  creature,  and  began  comparing  his  fate 
with  my  own.  "  Ah,  Job,"  I  said,  half-aloud,  "  you 
thought,  perhaps,  that  you  were  the  only  unhappy- 
being  in  the  world.  Look  at  that  poor  fowl ;  there 
he  is,  far  away  from  land,  from  his  home,  from  his 
friends,  perhaps  his  little  ones  (for  many  birds  have 
large  families),  with  tired  wings,  and  not  a  piece  of 
ground  as  broad  as  his  own  tail  for  him  to  rest 
upon.  He  must  go  on,  fatigued  though  he  may 
be,  for  if  he  fall,  nothing  can  prevent  his  death; 
the  water  will  pour  among  his  feathers,  clog  his 
wings,  and  not  only  prevent  him  ever  rising  more 
into  the  air,  but  pull  him  down  until  his  life  is  gone. 
So,  Job,  badly  off  as  you  are  just  now,  there  is 
11* 


108  Adventures  of  a  L)otr. 

another,  as  jou  see,  whose  fate  is  worse ;  and  who 
shall  say  that,  in  other  places,  where  your  eye  can- 
not reach,  that  there  are  not  others  yet  so  very, 
very  miserable,  that  they  would  willingly,  oh !  how 
willingly  !  change  places  with  you,  or  with  that 
poor  fluttering  bird !" 

This  talk  with  myself  quieted  me  for  a  time,  and 
I  felt  a  certain  joy  when  I  saw  the  bird  slowly  de- 
scend, and  having  spied  my  uncomfortable  boat, 
perch  heavily  on  the  other  end  of  it.  He  did  not 
do  so  until  he  had  looked  at  me  with  evident  alarm  ; 
and,  worn  out  as  he  was,  and  his  heart  beating  as 
though  it  would  burst  through  his  yellow  coat,  he 
still  kept  his  eyes  fixed  upon  me,  ready  to  take 
wing  and  resume  his  journey,  wherever  he  might 
be  going,  at  the  least  motion  I  should  make. 

Some  time  passed  over  in  this  way ;  myself  in 
the  middle,  and  Dicky  at  the  end  of  the  beam.  We 
did  not  say  a  word  to  each  other ;  for,  as  I  spoke 
no  other  language  but  my  own,  and  he  seemed 
about  as  clever  as  myself,  we  merely  talked  with 
our  eyes. 

A  thought  now  came  into  my  head.  My  thirst 
returned,  and  I  felt  very  hungry.  What  if  I  should 
suddenly  dart  on  little  Dicky,  and  make  a  meal  of 
him  ?  I  did  not  consider  at  the  instant  that,  by  so 
doing,  I  should  be  acting  a  very  base  part,  for 
Dicky  had  placed  confidence  in  me,  and,  killing 
him  for  trusting  to  my  honour,  and  eating  him  be- 
cause he  was  poor  and  unfortunate,  would  be  nei- 
ther a  good  return  nor  a  kind  action.  Luckily  for 
Dicky,  and  even  for  myself,  although  he  was  not 


Pains  and  Pleasures.  109 

able  to  speak  foreign  languages,  he  eould  read  my 
meaning  in  mj  eyes;  for  when  I  turned  them 
slowly  towards  him,  just  to  see  my  distance,  he 
took  alarm,  and  rose  into  the  air  with  a  swiftness 
which  I  envied.  I  am  sorry  to  say,  my  only  thought 
at  first  was  the  having  lost  my  dinner;  but  as  I 
watched  him  through  the  air  flying  on  and  on,  un- 
til he  diminished  to  a  misty  speck,  and  then  disap- 
peared, my  better  feelings  came  back  to  me,  and 
said,  "  Oh,  Job  1  I  would  not  have  believed  this  of 
you  I"  "But,"  replied  my  empty  stomach,  "I  am 
so  hungry ;  without  food,  I  shall  fall  in,  and  Job 
will  die."  "  Let  Job  die,"  said  my  better  self  again, 
in  a  cold,  firm  tone ;  "  let  Job  ratber  die,  than  do 
what  he  would  live  to  feel  ashamed  of." 

As  the  day  wore  on,  I  began  to  think  that  death 
only  could  relieve  me ;  and  the  thought  was  very, 
very  painful.  Nothing  before  and  around  but  the 
salt  waves — nothing  above  but  the  blue  sky  and 
hot  sun — not  even  a  cloud  on  which  to  rest  my 
aching  eyes.  The  want  of  water  which  I  could 
drink  was  now  becoming  terrible.  When  I  thought 
of  it,  my  head  began  to  turn ;  my  brain  seemed  to 
be  on  fire ;  and  the  public  basins  of  Caneville,  where 
only  the  lowest  curs  use  to  quench  their  thirst, 
aanced  before  me,  to  add  to  my  torture ; — for  I 
thought,  though  I  despised  them  once,  how  I  could 
give  treasures  of  gold  for  one  good  draught  at  the 
worst  of  them  just  then. 

There  is  not  a  misfortune  happens  to  us  from 
which  we  may  not  derive  good  if  our  hearts  are 
not  quite  hardened,  and  our  minds  not  totally  im- 


200  Adventures  of  a  Do»*. 

penetrable.  Great  as  mj  sufferings  were  during 
this  incident  of  my  life,  I  leaint  from  it  much  that 
has  been  useful  to  me  in  after  years.  But  even  if 
it  had  taught  me  no  other  truth  than  that  we  should 
despise  nothing  which  is  good  and  wholesome, 
merely  because  it  is  ordinary,  I  should  not  have 
passed  through  those  sad  hours  in  vain.  We  dogs 
are  so  apt,  when  in  prosperity,  to  pamper  our  ap- 
petites, and,  commonly  speaking,  to  turn  up  our 
noses  at  simple  food,  that  we  require,  from  time  to 
time,  to  be  reminded  on  how  little  canine  life  can 
be  preserved.  All  have  not  had  the  advantage  of 
the  lesson  which  I  was  blessed  with ;  for  it  was  a 
blessing;  one  that  has  so  impressed  itself  on  my 
memory,  that  sometimes  when  1  fancy  I  cannot  eat 
anything  that  is  put  before  me,  because  it  is  too 
much  done,  or  not  done  enough,  or  has  some  other 
real  or  supposed  defect,  I  say  to  myself,  "Job,  Job, 
what  would  you  have  given  for  a  tiny  bit  of  the 
worst  part  of  it  wben  you  were  at  sea?"  And  then 
I  take  it  at  once,  and  find  it  excellent. 

As  the  sun  got  lower,  clouds,  the  same  in  shape 
that  had  welcomed  him  in  the  morning,  rose  up 
from  the  sea  as  if  to  show  their  pleasure  at  his 
return.  He  sunk  into  the  midst  of  them  and  dis- 
appeared ;  and  then  the  clouds  came  up  and  covered 
all  the  sky.  I  suffered  less  in  the  cool  evening  air, 
and  found  with  pleasure  that  it  was  growing  into  a 
breeze.  My  pleasure  soon  got  greater  still,  for, 
with,  the  wind,  I  felt  some  drops  of  rain  !  The  first 
fell  upon  my  burning  nose,  but  the  idea  of  fresh 
watei  was  such  a  piece  of  good  fortune,  that  I  dared 


Pains  and  Pleasures.  201 

not  give  loose  to  my  joy  until  the  drops  began  to 
fall  thickly  on  and  around  me,  and  there  was  a 
heavy  shower.  I  could  scarcely  give  my  rough 
coat  time  to  get  thoroughly  wet  before  I  began 
sucking  at  it.  It  was  not  nice  at  first,  being  mixed 
with  the  salt  spray  by  which  I  had  been  so  often 
covered ;  but  as  the  rain  still  came  down,  the  taste 
was  fresher  every  moment,  and  soon  got  most  de- 
licious. I  seemed  to  recover  strength  as  I  licked 
my  dripping  breast  and  shoulders,  and  though 
evening  changed  to  dark  night,  and  the  rain  was 
followed  by  a  strong  wind,  which  got  more  and 
more  fierce,  and  appeared  to  drive  me  and  my 
friendly  log  over  the  waves  as  if  we  had  been  bits 
of  straw,  I  felt  no  fear,  but  clung  to  the  timber,  and 
actually  gave  way  to  hope. 

I  must  have  slept  again,  for  daylight  was  once 
more  in  the  sky  when  I  unclosed  my  eyes.  Where 
was  I  now?  My  sight  was  dim,  and  though  I 
could  see  there  was  no  longer  darkness,  I  could 
make  out  nothing  else.  Was  I  still  on  the  roll- 
ing water  ?  Surely  not ;  for  I  felt  no  motion.  I 
passed  my  paw  quickly  across  my  eyes  to  brush 
away  the  mist  which  covered  them.  I  roused  my- 
self. The  beam  of  wood  was  still  beneath  me,  but 
my  legs  surely  touched  the  ground!  My  sight 
came  back  to  me,  and  showed  me,  true,  the  sea 
stretching  on,  on,  on,  in  the  distance,  but  showed 
me  also  that  /,  oh!  joy,  /had  reached  the  shore? 

When  my  mind  was  able  to  believe  the  truth,  I 
gprang  on  to  the  solid  land  with  a  cry  which  rings 
in  my  ears  even  now.     What  though  my  weakness 


202  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

was  so  great  that  I  tumbled  over  on  to  the  l)eacli 
and  filled  my  mouth  with  sand?  I  could  have 
licked  every  blade  of  grass,  every  stone  in  my  eo- 
stacy,  and  when  forced  to  lie  down  from  inability 
to  stand  upon  my  legs,  I  drove  my  paws  into  the 
earth,  and  held  up  portions  to  my  face,  to  convince 
myself  that  I  was  indeed  on  shore.  I  did  not 
trouble  myself  much  with  questions  as  to  how  I 
got  there.  I  did  not  puzzle  my  brain  to  inquire 
whether  the  wind  which  had  risen, the  evening  be- 
fore, and  which  I  felt  driving  me  on  so  freely,  had 
at  length  chased  me  to  the  land.  All  I  seemed  to 
value  was  the  fact  that  I  was  indeed  there^  and  all 
I  could  persuade  myself  to  say  or  think  was  the 
single,  blessed  word,  saved  I 

I  must  have  lain  some  time  upon  the  sand  before 
I  tried  again  to  move,  for  when  I  scrambled  on  to 
my  legs  the  sun  was  high  and  hot — so  hot,  that  it 
had  completely  dried  my  coat,  and  made  me  wish 
for  shelter.  Dragging  myself  with  some  trouble 
to  a  mound  of  earth,  green  and  sparkling  with 
grass  and  flowers,  I  managed  to  get  on  top  of  it ; 
and  when  I  had  recovered  from  the  effort,  for  I  was 
very  weak,  looked  about  me  with  curiosity  to  ob- 
serve the  place  where  I  had  been  thrown. 

The  ground  was  level  close  to  where  I  stood, 
but,  at  a  little  distance,  it  rose  into  gentle  grassy 
hills,  with  short  bushes  here  and  there ;  and  just 
peeping  over  them,  were  the  tops  of  trees  still 
farther  off,  with  mountains  beyond,  of  curious 
forms  and  rich  blue  colour. 

While  considering  this  prospect,  I  suddenly  ob- 


Pains  and  Pleasures,  203 

Berved  an  animal  on  one  of  the  hills  coming 
towards  me,  and  I  lay  down  at  full  length  on  the 
grass  to  examine  who  he  might  be.  As  he  drew 
nearer,  I  was  surprised  at  his  form  and  look  (I  af- 
terwards learnt  that  he  was  called  an  ape),  and 
thought  I  had  never  beheld  so  queer  a  being.  He 
had  a  stick  in  his  right  hand,  and  a  bundle  in  his 
left,  and  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground  as  he 
walked  along. 

When  he  was  quite  close,  I  rose  again,  to  ask 
him  where  I  could  procure  food  and  water,  of  which 
I  felt  great  want.  The  motion  startled  him,  and 
stepping  back,  he  took  his  stick  in  both  hands  as 
if  to  protect  himself.  The  next  moment  he  put  it 
down,  and  coming  up  to  me,  to  my  surprise  ad- 
dressed me  in  my  own  language,  by  enquiring  how 
I  came  there.  My  astonishment  was  so  great  at 
first,  that  I  could  not  reply  ;  and  when  I  did  speak, 
it  was  to  ask  him  how  it  happened  that  he  used 
my  language.  To  this  he  answered,  that  he  had 
been  a  great  traveller  in  his  day,  and  among  other 
places,  had  visited  my  city,  where  he  had  studied 
and  been  treated  kindly  for  a  long  time ;  that  he 
loved  dogs,  and  should  be  only  too  happy  now  to 
return  some  of  the  favours  he  had  received.  This 
speech  opened  my  heart,  but  before  he  would  let 
me  say  more,  he  untied  his  bundle  and  spread 
what  it  contained  before  me.  As  there  were  seve- 
ral savoury  morsels  you  may  believe  I  devoured 
them  with  great  appetite, — indeed,  I  hope  Master 
Ximio's  opinion  of  me  was  not  formed  from  the 
greediness  with  which  I  ate  up  his  provisions. 


204  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

After  I  had  refreshed  myself  at  a  spring  of 
water,  we  sat  down  and  I  told  him  my  story.  He 
heard  me  patiently  to  the  end,  when,  after  a  pause, 
he  exclaimed — 

"Come,  Job,  come  with  me.  A  few  days'  rest 
will  restore  your  strength,  and  you  can  return  to 
your  own  city.  It  is  not  a  long  journey  over  land, 
and  with  stout  limbs  like  those,  you  will  soon  be 
able  to  get  back  and  lick  old  Nip  again." 

I  need  not  dwell  upon  this  part  of  my  story,  al- 
though I  could  fill  many  pages  with  the  narration 
of  Master  Ximio's  dwelling,  and  above  all  of  his 
kindness:  he  kept  me  two  or  three  days  at  his 
house,  and  would  have  detained  me  much  longer, 
but,  besides  that  I  was  anxious  to  return  to  Nip, 
I  felt  certain  pains  in  my  limbs,  which  made  me 
wish  to  get  back  to  Caneville,  as  I  did  not  like  the 
idea  of  troubling  my  good  friend  with  the  care  of 
a  sick  dog.  He  was  so  kind-hearted,  however,  and 
showed  me  such  attention,  that  I  was  afraid  to  say 
anything  about  my  aches,  lest  he  should  insist  on 
keeping  me.  He  seemed  to  think  it  was  quite 
natural  I  should  desire  to  get  home,  and  when  he 
saw  my  impatience  to  depart,  he  assisted  to  get  me 
ready. 

Having  supplied  me  with  everything  I  could 
want  on  my  journey,  and  pressed  upon  me  many 
gifts  besides,  he  led  me  by  a  little  path  through  the 
wood,  until  we  came  to  the  sea.  "Along  this 
shore,"  he  said,  "y^ur  road  lies.  Follow  the 
winding  of  the  coast  until  you  reach  the  mouth  of 
a  bro^d  river,  the  waters  of  which  empty  them* 


Pains  and  Pleasures.  205 

3lves  into  the  sea.  That  river  is  the  same  which 
ins  through  your  city.  Keep  along  its  banks  and 
'^ou  will  shortly  arrive  at  Caneville,  where  I  hope 
ou  may  find  every  thing  you  wish, — for  I  am 
sure  you  wish  nothing  that  is  unreasonable.  II 
pleasure  awaits  you  there,  do  not,  in  the  midst  of 
it,  forget  Ximio.  If,  against  my  hopes,  you  should 
find  yourself  unhappy,  remember  there  is  a  home 
always  open  to  you  here,  and  a  friend  who  will  do 
his  best  to  make  you  forget  sorrow.     Farewell !" 

I  was  greatly  moved  at  his  words  and  the  mem- 
ory of  his  kinduess.  We  licked  each  other  ten- 
(Jerly — murmured  something,  which  meant  a  great 
deal  more  than  it  expressed — and  then  we  parted. 
I  turned  my  head  often  as  I  went,  and  each  time 
beheld  Ximio  waving  his  hand  in  the  air;  at  last 
a  dip  in  the  ground  hid  him  from  my  sight,  and  I 
continued  my  journey  alone. 

It  was  fortunate  I  had  been  well  furnished  with 
provisions  by  my  good  friend,  for  as  I  proceeded, 
I  found  the  pains  in  my  limbs  so  great  that  I  could 
scarce  drag  one  leg  after  the  other,  and  should  pro- 
bably have  died  of  hunger,  as  I  had  no  strength 
left  to  procure  food,  and  did  not  meet  with  any 
more  Ximios  to  assist  me  had  I  stood  in  need. 
With  long  rests,  from  which  I  rose  each  time  with 
greater  dif&culty, — with  increasing  anxiety  as  I 
drew  near  my  home,  to  learn  all  that  had  taken 
place  during  my  absence, — and  yet  with  legs  which 
almost  refused  to  carry  me ;  after  many  days  that 
Bcemed  to  have  grown  into  months, — they  were  so 
full  of  care  and  suffering, — I  toiled  up  a  hill,  which 
18 


206  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

bad,  I  thought,  the  power  of  getting  steeper  as  I 
ascended.  At  length  I  reached  the  top,  and  to  my 
joy  discovered  the  well-known  city  of  Oaneville, 
lying  in  the  plain  beneath  me.  The  sight  gave  me 
strength  again.  I  at  once  resumed  my  journey, 
and  trotted  down  the  hill  at  a  pace  which  surprised 
myself.  As  I  got  warm  with  my  exertions,  the 
stiffness  seemed  by  degrees  to  leave  my  limbs; 
I  ran,  I  bounded  along,  over  grass  and  stones, 
through  broad  patches  of  mud  which  showed  too 
plainly  to  what  height  the  river  had  lately  risen, 
out  of  breath,  yet  with  a  spirit  which  would  not 
let  me  flag,  I  still  flew  on,  nor  slackened  my  speed 
until  I  had  got  to  the  first  few  houses  of  the  town. 
There  I  stopped  indeed,  and  fell;  for  it  then 
seemed  as  if  my  bones  were  all  breaking  asunder. 
My  eyes  grew  dim ;  strange  noises  sounded  in  my 
ears;  and  though  I  fancied  I  could  distinguish 
voices  which  I  knew,  I  could  neither  see  nor  speak; 
I  thought  it  was  my  dying  hour. 

From  the  mouths  of  Nip  and  others  I  learnt  all 
which  then  occurred,  and  all  that  had  passed  after 
my  supposed  loss  on  the  night  of  the  inundation. 
How  my  noble  conduct  (for  so  they  were  kind 
enough  to  call  it,  though  I  only  tried  to  do  my 
duty,  and  failed),  had  been  made  known  to  the 
great  dogs  of  Caneville,  and  how  they  had  sought 
after  me  to  thank  me  for  it ; — how  they  had  offered 
rewards  to  those  who  assisted  in  my  recovery ; — 
how,  when  it  was  supposed  that  I  was  dead,  they 
took  Nip  from  our  modest  home,  and  placed  him 
in  this  present  house,  fitted  with  every  thing  that 


Patns  and  Pleasures.  201 

could  make  him  comfortable  for  life ; — liow,  when 
all  hope  was  gone,  my  unexpected  appearance 
brought  a  crowd  about  me,  each  one  anxious  to 
assist  me  in  my  distress,  though  some  maliciously 
said,  in  order  to  lay  claim  to  the  reward ;  and  hew 
I  was  finally  brought  again  to  my  senses  through 
the  care  of  our  clever  canine  doctors,  and  the  kind 
nursing  of  dear  old  Nip. 

It  was  long,  however,  before  I  recovered  my 
legs  sufficiently  to  be  able  to  use  them  without 
support.  My  long  exposure  at  sea ;  the  want  of 
food,  and  the  trouble  I  had  gone  through  during 
my  involuntary  voyage,  had  all  assisted  to  weaken 
me.  But  my  anxiety  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air  again, 
took  me  out  into  the  streets  directly  it  was  thought 
safe  for  me  to  do  so,  and  with  a  pair  of  crutches 
beneath  my  arms  I  managed  to  creep  about. 

Never  shall  I  forget  the  first  time  this  pleasur** 
was  allowed  me.  The  morning  was  so  fresh  and 
bright;  the  sun  shone  so  gaily  upon  the  houses; 
the  river,  now  reduced  to  its  usual  size,  ran  so 
cheerily  along,  that  I  got  into  my  old  habit,  and 
began  to  think  they  were  all  talking  to  me  and 
bidding  me  welcome  after  my  long  illness.  Kind 
words  were  soon  said  to  me  in  right  earnest,  for  be- 
fore I  had  got  half  way  down  the  street,  with  old 
Nip  just  behind  me, — his  hat  still  adorned  with 
the  band  which  he  had  unwillingly  put  on  when 
he  thought  me  dead  and  gone,  and  which  he  had 
forgotten  to  take  off  again, — the  puppies  ran  from 
different  quarters  to  look  up  in  my  face  and  say; 
"  How  do  you  do,  Job  ?     I  hope  you  are  better, 


208  Adventures  of  a  Doo. 

Job."  Many  a  polite  dog  took  off  bis  bat  tD  bid 
me  good  morrow,  and  praises  more  tban  I  deserved, 
but  wbicb  I  beard  witb  pleasure,  came  softly  to  my 
ear  as  I  bobbled  slowly  along.  Nip  told  me  after- 
wards, tbat  tbere  bad  been  anotber  in  tbe  crowd 
wbo  kept  a  little  back,  and  wbo,  tbougb  sbe  said 
notbing,  seemed  to  be  more  glad  to  see  me  tban  all 
tbe  rest.  I  bad  not  seen  ber,  nor  did  be  mention 
ber  name,  but  tbat  was  not  necessary.  My  beart 
seemed  to  t^li  me  tbat  it  could  only  bave  been 
Fida. 


DUTY. 

THE  idle  life  wbicb  I  was  compelled  to  spend 
gave  me  time  for  reflection,  and  I  believe  my 
mind  was  more  active  during  tbe  few  montbs  my 
body  was  on  crutcbes  tban  it  bad  been  for  years 
previous.  My  tbougbts  received  little  interruption 
from  Nip,  wbo,  after  bavin g  recounted  tbe  events 
wbicb  bad  taken  place  during  my  absence,  bad 
little  more  to  say.  Tbe  kindness  of  tbe  great  city 
dogs  baving  removed  all  fear  of  want,  or  even  tbe 
necessity  of  labour  from  our  comfortable  bome, 
produced,  at  first,  a  pleasing  effect  upon  me ;  but 
as  my  strength  returned,  and  I  managed  to  walk 
about  tbe  room  witbout  assistance,  a  desire  for  active 
employment  became  quite  necessary  to  my  bap- 
piness. 

"  Wbat  bave  I  done,  Nip  ?"  I  would  often  say 


Duty.  209 

as  I  took  T  ly  usual  exercise  in  our  modest  parlour; 
*'  what  have  I  done,  Nip,  that  I  should  be  clothed 
and  fed,  and  housed,  without  labouring  for  such 
advantages,  like  the  rest  of  dog  kind  ?  These  paws, 
large  and  strong  as  they  are,  were  never  intended 
for  idleness;  this  back,  broad  as  it  is,  was  meant 
for  some  other  purpose  than  to  show  off  a  fine  coat; 
this  brain,  which  can  reflect  and  admire,  and  resolve, 
had  not  such  capabilities  given  to  it  in  order  that 
they  might  be  wasted  in  a  life  of  ease.  "Work,  Nip, 
work ;  such  work  as  a  dog  can  do  should  be  sought 
after  and  done,  for  nothing  can  be  more  shocking 
than  to  see  an  animal's  powers,  either  of  body  or 
mind,  wasted  away  in  idleness." 

Nip  replied  but  little,  although  he  winked  his 
eyes  very  vigorously.  I  was  used  to  his  manner 
now,  and  could  understand  his  meaning  without 
the  necessity  of  words.  Both  his  looks  and  gestures 
told  me  that  he  thought  as  I  did,  and  I  only  waited 
till  I  could  use  my  own  legs  freely,  to  set  about  a 
resolution  I  had  been  forming  in  my  mind. 

It  was  a  happy  day  when  I  could  again  mix  in 
the  bustle  of  the  streets,  and  find  my  strength  once 
more  restored.  The  first  use  I  made  of  it  was  to 
go  to  the  great  house  where  the  chief  dogs  of  Cane- 
ville  are  accustomed  to  sit  during  a  certain  time  of 
the  day  to  judge  matters  relating  to  the  city.  When 
I  arrived,  they  were  almost  alone,  and  I  was  there- 
fore able  to  present  myself  without  delay,  and  ex- 
plain my  business. 

I  began  by  thanking  them  for  what  they  had 
done  for  me  and  my  old  friend  Nip,  in  providing 
18* 


810  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

us  with  a  house  and  with  so  many  comforts.  I  toM 
them,  although  the  goodness  of  Nip  rendered  him 
worthy  of  every  attention,  as  he  had  grown  old  in 
a  useful  and  laborious  life,  I  had  no  such  claims.  I 
was  still  young — my  strength  had  come  back  to 
me — I  had  no  right  to  eat  the  food  of  idleness, 
where  so  many  dogs,  more  deserving  than  I,  were 
often  in  want  of  a  bone,  but  whose  modesty  pre- 
vented them  making  known  their  necessities.  I 
would  still  thankfully  enjoy  the  home,  which  the 
kindness  of  the  great  animals  of  Caneville  had 
furnished  me,  but  they  must  permit  me  to  work  for 
it — they  must  permit  me  to  do  something  which 
might  be  useful  to  the  city  in  return,  for  I  should 
devour  the  fare  provided  for  me  with  a  great  deal 
more  appetite,  if  I  could  say  to  myself  when  I  felt 
hungry,  "Job,  brother  Job,  eat  your  dinner,  for 
you  have  earned  it." 

The  assembly  of  dogs  heard  me  with  great  atten- 
tion to  the  end ;  not  a  bark  interrupted  my  little 
speech,  not  a  movement  disturbed  my  attention.  I 
was  pleased  to  see  that  tails  wagged  with  appro- 
bation when  I  had  concluded,  and  was  charmed  to 
hear  the  chief  among  them,  who  was  white  with 
age,  express  himself  delighted^  yes,  that  was  the 
word,  delighted  with  my  spirit, 

"  We  are  pleased,  Job,"  he  said,  at  the  end  of 
hfs  reply,  "  we  are  pleased  to  observe  that  there  are 
yet  true  dogs  in  Caneville ;  there  have  been  animals 
calling  themselves  so,  whose  character  was  so  base, 
and  whose  manner  was  so  cringing,  that  they  have 
brought  disrepute  upon  the  name;    and  we  ara 


Duty.  2n 

sorry  to  say  that  in  many  co"antrics  the  title  of  a 
dog  is  given  to  the  vilest  and  most  worthless  crea- 
tures. All  the  finer  qualities  of  our  race  have  been 
lost  sight  of,  because  a  few  among  us  have  been 
mean  or  wicked;  and  a  whole  nation  has  been 
pointed  at  with  scorn,  because  some  of  its  members 
have  acted  badly.  We  are  happy,  Job,  to  find  in 
you  a  '  worthy  subject,'  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  give 
you  all  assistance  in  choosing  an  occupation  in 
which  you  may  employ  your  time,  and  be  of  use 
to  your  fellow-creatures." 

I  should  not  have  repeated  this  to  you,  as  it  is 
not,  perhaps,  necessary  for  my  story,  but  that  I 
wished  to  correct  an  error  which  many  have  made 
concerning  the  character  of  this  very  dog.  He  has 
been  described  by  several  as  cold,  and  proud,  and 
sometimes  cruel ;  and  yet  to  me  he  was  warm,  and 
friendly,  and  most  kind.  Do  not  you  think  when 
we  hear  animals  grumbling  against  their  fellows,  it 
would  be  just  as  well  to  think  who  the  grumblers 
are,  before  we  form  our  opinions?  or,  at  least,  hear 
the  opinions  of  many  before  we  decide  ourselves? 

I  need  not  tell  you  all  that  passed  between  us, 
and  what  was  said  by  this  dog  and  by  that,  about 
the  choice  of  my  occupation.  It  was  agreed  at 
last  that  I  should  be  appointed  chief  of  the  Cane- 
ville  police,  as  the  place  had  become  vacant  through 
the  death  of  a  fine  old  mastiff  some  days  previous. 
I  wonder  whether  he  was  a  relation  of  my  own,  for 
I  have  already  told  you  my  mother  belonged  to 
that  great  family.  He  had  received  some  severe 
wounds  when  trying  to  capture  a  fierce  beast  of  tha 


812  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

name  of  Lupo,  the  terror  of  the  citj,  and  he  had 
died  from  the  effect  of  them  in  spite  of  all  the  care 
of  the  doctors.  What  made  the  matter  worse,  was 
the  fact  that  Lupo  was  jet  at  liberty,  and  many 
dogs  were  afraid  to  go  out  at  night  for  fear  of  meet- 
ing with  this  terrible  animal. 

To  tell  the  truth,  I  was  rather  pleased  than  other* 
wise  that  Lupo  had  still  to  be  taken.  It  was  agree- 
able to  me  to  think  that  work,  difficult  work,  was 
to  be  done,  and  that  /  was  called  upon  to  do  it.  I 
felt  proud  at  the  idea  that  the  animals  of  the  great 
city  of  Caneville  would  look  up  to  me,  to  me,  poor 
Job,  as  the  dog  chosen  to  relieve  them  of  their 
fears,  and  restore  security  to  their  streets.  "  Job," 
I  cried  out  to  mj^self,  in  a  firm  tone,  "  Job,  here  is 
a  chance  of  being  useful  to  your  country ;  let  no 
danger,  no  fear,  even  of  death,  stop  you  in  the 
good  work.  Job,  you  are  called  upon  to  perform 
a  duty,  and  let  nothing,  mind  nothing,  turn  you 
from  It." 

After  I  had  become  acquainted  with  all  the  dogs 
who  were  under  my  command,  I  spent  much  time 
each  day  in  exercising  them,  and  in  endeavouring, 
by  kind  words,  and  by  my  own  example,  to  make 
them  attend  strictly  to  their  work.  I  was  pleased 
to  observe  that  I  succeeded.  Some,  who  were 
pointed  out  to  me  as  difficult  to  manage,  became 
my  most  faithful  followers,  and  I  had  not  been  two 
months  in  my  employment  before  all  were  so  de- 
voted to  me,  that  I  believe  they  would  have  died 
to  serve  me. 

In  all  this  time,  nothing  had  been  heard  of  the 


Duty.  213 

terrible  Lupo,  and  all  my  enquiries  procured  no 
information  concerning  where  he  was  to  be  found 
I  learned  that  he  was  not  a  native  of  Caneville,  al- 
though his  father  once  belonged  to  the  city.  He 
was  born  in  a  country  beyond  the  great  wood,  and 
his  mother  came  from  a  fierce  tribe  of  wolves,  v/ho, 
although  they  a  little  resemble  dogs  in  appearance, 
and  speak  a  very  similar  language,  are  much  more 
ferocious,  and  seem  to  look  upon  the  whole  canine 
family  as  natural  enemies. 

The  opinion  began  to  spread  in  Caneville  that 
Lupo  had  at  length  left  the  city,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants, by  degrees,  recovered  their  usual  quiet; 
when,  suddenly,  the  alarm  spread  more  widely 
than  before ;  as,  two  nights  in  succession,  some 
rich  dogs  were  robbed  and  ill-treated,  and  one  of 
them  was  lamed  by  the  ferocity  of  the  chief  of  the 
terrible  band  who  had  attacked  them,  and  whose 
description  convinced  me  it  was  Lupo. 

These  accounts  caused  me  much  pain,  as  I  had 
neither  been  able  to  prevent  the  attacks,  nor  dis- 
cover the  animals  who  had  made  them.  In  my 
desire  to  find  out  and  capture  the  robbers,  I  could 
scarcely  take  food  or  rest.  I  managed  to  sleep  a 
little  in  the  day-time,  and  at  night,  dressed  in  the 
simplest  manner,  so  as  to  excite  no  attention,  I 
wandei^ed  quietly  from  street  to  street,  stopping  to 
listen  to  the  sliglitest  noise,  and  going  in  any  direc- 
tion that  I  heard  a  murmur.  One  or  two  of  my 
dogs  generally  followed  at  a  distance,  ready  to 
assist  me  if  I  called  for  help. 

It  was  a  fine  night.    The  moon  and  stars  were 


214  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

brilliant  in  the  skj,  and  made  the  blue  all  th^ 
deeper  from  their  own  bright  rays.  I  had  been 
already  two  hours  crawling  through  the  lower 
parts  of  the  city,  and  was  mounting  the  hill  which 
led  to  a  fine  building,  where  my  steps  often  carried 
me : — sometimes  without  my  intending  it ; — in  or- 
der to  watch  over  the  safety  of  those  who  slept 
within.  It  was  the  house  of  Fida,  that  Fida  who 
had  been  to  me  so  kind,  so  tender ;  that  Fida  who 
had  so  patiently  softened  down  my  rudeness,  and 
had  tried  to  teach  me  to  know  what  was  good  by 
letting  me  become  her  friend. 

I  had  nearly  reached  the  top  of  the  hill,  and 
paused  an  instant  to  observe  the  bright  light  and 
dark  shadows  which  the  house  displayed,  as  the 
moon  fell  upon  it,  or  some  portion  of  the  building 
interposed.  Profound  sleep  had  fallen  upon  the 
city.  The  river  might  be  seen  from  the  spot  where 
I  was  standing,  running  swiftly  along;  and  so  deep 
was  the  silence,  that  you  could  even  hear  the  gush 
of  the  water  as  it  fretted  round  some  large  stones 
in  the  centre  of  the  stream. 

Suddenly,  there  rose  into  the  air  from  the  ground 
above  me,  the  sharp,  clear  howl  of  a  female  voice, 
and  at  the  sam-e  instant,  the  sound  of  a  rattle  broke 
upon  my  ear  as  a  signal  of  alarm.  I  sprang  up 
the  few  feet  which  were  between  me  and  the  house, 
with  the  speed  of  lightning,  and  turning  rapidly 
the  corner  of  the  building,  reached  the  principal 
entrance.  One  look  told  me  everything :  at  an 
upper  window,  in  a  loose  dress,  was  Fida  herself 
springing  the  rattle  which  sh^  held  in  her  paw 


Duty.  215 

with  a  strength  thnt  fear  alone  could  liave  given 
her ;  and  below,  where  I  myself  stood,  were  four 
or  five  dogs  differently  engaged,  but  evidently  try- 
ing to  get  into  the  house. 

A  kick  from  my  right  leg  sent  one  of  them  to 
the  ground,  and,  with  my  clenched  paw,  I  struck  a 
blow  at  the  second.  Never  do  I  remember  feeling 
such  strength  within  me,  such  a  resolution  to  at- 
tack twenty  dogs  if  it  were  necessary,  although  the 
next  minute  I  might  be  torn  in  pieces.  I  have 
sometimes  asked  myself  whether  the  presence  of 
Fida  had  anything  to  do  with  it,  or  if  a  sense  of 
duty  only  inspired  me.  I  have  never  been  able  to 
reply  to  the  question  in  a  satisfactory  manner.  I 
only  know  that  the  fact  was  as  I  say,  and  that  the 
blow  I  gave  was  surprising  even  to  myself;  my 
paw  caught  the  animal  precisely  under  his  chin, 
and  sent  him  flying  backwards,  with  his  nose  in 
the  air  and  his  hat  behind  him  ;  and  as  the  moon 
shone  brilliantly  upon  his  upturned  face,  I  recog- 
nised the  features  described  to  me  as  those  of  Lupo. 
He  lay  so  still  upon  the  ground,  that  I  thought  he 
must  be  killed ;  so  leaving  him  for  a  moment,  I 
pursued  some  others  who  were  running  off  in  the 
distance,  but  did  not  succeed  in  catching  them.  I 
said  a  few  cheering  words  to  Fida  at  the  window, 
and  returned  to  the  spot  of  my  encounter  with 
Lupo,  but  instead  of  that  terrible  beast,  found  some 
of  my  own  followers,  the  father  of  Fida,  and  one 
or  two  servants,  who  had  been  roused  by  the  tumult, 
and  had  come  out  to  learn  the  cause.  Lupo  waa 
nowhere  to  be  seen.    He  had  either  partly  recov 


216  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

ered  fr^m  the  blow,  and  bad  managed  to  crawl 
away,  or  had  been  dragged  off  by  some  of  hia 
troop. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  fortunate  to  me 
than  this  night's  adventure.  The  father  of  Fida, 
who  had  seen  the  attack  from  his  window,  was  the 
head  of  one  of  the  best  families  of  dogs  in  Cane- 
ville,  and  being,  besides,  very  rich,  he  enjoyed 
great  power.  He  was  so  pleased  with  what  I  had 
done,  that  he  not  only  took  a  great  liking  to  me 
himself,  but  he  spoke  of  my  conduct  in  the  highest 
terms  to  the  great  assembly.  I  received  public 
thanks ;  I  was  admitted  to  the  honour  which  I  now 
hold,  that  of  forming  one  of  the  second  assembly 
of  the  city ;  I  was  loaded  with  rich  presents,  and 
equally  rich  praise  ;  and  I  may  also  date  from  that 
night,  the  obtaining  the  richest  gift  of  all,  the  gift 
which  has  made  the  happiness  of  my  best  years ;  I 
mean  the  possession  of  my  wife,  the  beautiful  Fida. 

It  is  true  that  I  did  not  procure  that  felicity  at 
once.  There  were  many  difficulties  to  be  got  over 
before  the  noble  spaniel  would  think  of  allowing 
his  daughter  to  become  the  wife  of  plain  Mr.  Job. 
His  son,  also,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  previously, 
could  not  bear,  at  first,  the  idea  of  his  sister  not 
marrying  some  one  as  noble  as  herself,  and  thought, 
very  naturally,  that  she  was  far  too  good  to  have 
her  fortunes  united  with  mine.  Fida  herself,  how 
ever,  was  so  firm,  and  yet  so  tender ;  so  straight- 
forward, and  yet  so  modest,  that  she  finally  broke 
down  all  opposition.  She  persuaded  her  fathei 
that  no  title  could  be  more  noble  than  the  one  1 


DuTT.  217 

had  acquired,  that  of  "Honest  Job;"  she  won 
over  her  brother,  by  slyly  asking  him,  which 
among  his  grand  companions  could  have  met  a 
whole  band  of  fierce  dogs,  with  Lupo  at  their 
head,  and,  single-pawed,  could  have  coiaquerea 
them  all  ?  By  degrees,  every  objection  was  cleared 
away,  and  Fida  became  mine. 

The  chief  interest  of  my  life  terminates  here ; 
for,  although  in  my  position  as  head  of  the  police, 
I  had  many  other  adventures,  they  were  too  much 
alike,  and  of  too  common  an  order,  to  be  worth 
relating.  Before  I  close,  however,  I  must  mention 
a  circumstance  which  occurred  shortly  after  my 
battle  with  the  robbers,  as  it  is  curious  in  itself, 
and  refers  to  an  animal  of  whom  I  have  before 
spoken. 

I  was  quietly  walking  along  a  bye-street  of 
Caneville,  when  a  miserable,  thin,  little  puppy 
came  behind  me,  and  gently  pulled  my  coat.  On 
turning  round  to  ask  him  what  he  wanted,  he 
begged  me  in  the  most  imploring  tone  to  come 
and  see  his  father,  who  was  very  ill. 

"And  who  is  your  father,  little  pup?"  I  en- 
quired. 

"His  name  is  Lupo,"  said  the  thin  dog,  in  a 
trembling  voice. 

"  Lupo  !"  I  cried  out  in  surprise.  "  But  do  you 
not  know  who  I  am,  and  that  I  am  forced  to  be 
your  father's  greatest  enemy  ?" 

"I  know,  I  know,"  the  pup  replied;  "but 
father  told  me  to  come  and  seek  you^  for  that  you 
were  good,  and  would  not  harm  him,  if  you  knew 
19 


218  Adventures  of  a  Dog. 

he  was  so  miserable."     And  here  the  little  dog  be- 
gan howling  in  a  way  which  moved  me. 

"  Go  on  ;"  I  said  after  a  moment ;  "go  on ;  I  will 
follow  you." 

As  the  little  dog  ran  before,  through  some  of  the 
low  and  miserable  parts  of  the  city,  the  idea  once 
came  into  my  head,  that  perhaps  this  was  a  scheme 
of  Lupo's  to  get  me  into  his  power.  But  the  pup 
py's  grief  had  been  too  real  to  allow  me  to  believe, 
young  as  he  was,  that  he  could  be  acting  a  part;  so 
with  a  stout  resolution  I  went  forward. 

We  arrived  at  a  low  and  dirty  kennel,  where 
only  the  greatest  misery  could  bear  to  live.  We 
passed  through  a  hole,  for  so  it  appeared,  rather 
than  a  doorway,  and  I  found  myself  in  a  little  room, 
lit  by  a  break  in  the  wall.  On  the  single  poor  bed 
lay  a  wretched  object,  gasping  for  breath,  while  a 
ragged  pup,  somewhat  older  than  my  little  guide, 
had  buried  his  face  in  the  clothes  at  the  bottom  of 
the  bed.  Three  other  tiny  creatures,  worn  to  the 
bone  with  poverty  and  want  of  food,  came  crowd- 
ing round  me,  in  a  way  that  was  piteous  to  behold, 
and  with  their  looks,  not  words,  for  they  said 
nothing,  asked  me  to  do  something  for  their  mis- 
erable parent.  I  procured  from  a  neighbouring 
tavern  a  bason  of  broth,  with  which  I  succeeded  in 
reviving  the  once  terrible  Lupo,  but  it  was  only  a 
flash  before  life  departed  for  ever.  In  broken 
words,  he  recommended  to  my  care  the  poor  little 
objects  round.  Bad  as  he  was,  he  still  had  feeling 
for  them,  and  it  was  easy  to  observe  that  at  this 
sad  moment  his  thoughts  were  more  of  them  than 


DuTT. 


219 


of  himself;  for  when  I  promised  to  protect  them, 
he  pressed  my  paw  with  his  remaining  strength  to 
his  hot  lips,  moaned  faintly,  and  expired. 

My  tale  is  over.  "Would  that  it  had  been  more 
entertaining,  more  instructive.  But  the  incidents 
of  my  career  have  been  few,  and  my  path,  with  the 
one  or  two  exceptions  I  have  described,  has  been  a 
smooth  one.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  no  history 
of  a  life,  however  simple,  is  without  its  lesson.  If 
it  be  so,  then,  perhaps,  some  good  may  be  derived 
from  mine.  If  it  teach  the  way  to  avoid  an  error, 
or  correct  a  fault ;  if  any  portion  of  it  win  a  smile 
from  a  sad  heart,  or  awake  a  train  of  serious  thought 
in  a  gay  one,  my  dog's  tale  will  not  have  been  an- 
folded  in  vain. 


A  CHAPTER  ON  PETS. 

rpHE  love  of  pets  is  one  of  tlie  flowers  of  ciril- 
-^  ization,  a  feeling  either  openly  apparent  or 
lying  dormant  until  warmed  into  existence  by 
circumstances.  Many  carry  this  aSection  too  far, 
but  on  the  whole  there  is  something  humanizing 
in  a  pet. 

Gratitude  sometimes  causes  the  adoption  of  a 
pet.  A  dog  that  has  saved  your  own  or  child's 
life,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Lord  Forbes's  dog,  which 
discovered  that  the  house  was  on  fire  and  saved 
the  inmates,  has  a  right  to  be  regarded,  during 
the  rest  of  its  life,  with  care  and  gratitude.  We 
hear  of  a  Turkish  emperor  who  rewarded  a  horse 
which  had  carried  him  safely  through  a  great 
danger,  by  giving  him  a  marble  stable,  an  ivory 
manger,  a  rack  of  silver,  shoeing  him  with  gold, 
and  settling  an  estate  upon  him.  We  hear  of 
prisoners  taming  the  sparrows  that  perched  on 
the  bars  of  their  cells,  and  making  friends  of  a 

220 


A  Chapter  on  Pets.  221 

stray  rat  or  mouse  ;  we  all  know  the  story  of  the 
plant  Picciola. 

Tameness  and  domesticity  produce  every  imag- 
inable "  eccentricity "  in  animals.  There  is 
scarcely  a  horse  without  some  peculiarity.  I 
knew  one  whose  particular  fancy  was  window- 
breaking ;  if  he  could  slip  his  collar  at  night  he 
would  break  every  piece  of  glass  he  could  get  at. 
Another  who  would  stop  at  certain  liquor  stores, 
when  he  came  to  them,  and  nothing  could  induce 
him  to  pass  without  stopping.  A  third,  when- 
ever he  got  loose,  would,  with  the  greatest  assidu- 
ity, collect  brooms,  buckets,  curry-combs,  every- 
thing, in  short,  portable  within  reach,  and  put 
them  all  together  in  his  manger. 

I  have  heard  of  a  lady  keeping  a  large  green 
frog  as  a  pet ;  its  leaving  or  seeking  the  water 
was  found  to  beat  all  the  barometers,  so  true  a 
prophet  was  it  of  the  coming  weather.  It  knew 
its  mistress,  who  used  to  receive  by  post  a  pill- 
box of  flies  for  its  support.  Monkeys  are  now 
quite  out  of  date.  I  suppose  they  went  out  of 
fashion  as  china  came  in.  They  were,  I  believe, 
the  earliest  species  of  pets  of  which  we  have  any 
record.  I  heard  of  a  great  cultivator  of  pets  tak- 
ing a  monkey  with  him  by  railroad  in  a  basket. 
One  of  the  officials  saw  something  suspicious,  as 
he  thought,  smuggled  into  the  carriage — 

"  You  must  pay  for  that  dog." 


222  A  Chapteb  on  Pets. 

*•  It  is  not  a  dog,"  said  the  traveler. 

"It  is  a  dog,"  said  the  official, poking  his  finger 
so  near  a  hole  in  the  basket  as  almost  to  feel  the 
wind  of  a  snap  made  at  him. 

"  It  is  not  a  dog  but  a  monkey,  and  monkeys 
don't  pay,"  rejoined  the  owner. 

"  I  don't  care  what  it  is,"  said  the  other,  "  it  is 
a  hannimal,  and  hannimals  pays." 

"  I  suppose  you  will  make  me  pay  for  this, 
next,"  said  our  friend,  pulling  from  his  breast- 
pocket a  tortoise. 

"  No,"  said  the  official,  "  that's  not  a  hannimal, 
that's  a  hinsect." 

Few  can  realize  the  number  of  cage-birds  sold 
every  year  in  London.  We  may  divide  them  into 
parts :  tliose  bought  for  their  song,  like  the  night- 
ingale, thrush,  blackbird  and  linnet;  those  for 
their  plumage  and  song  combined,  namely  the 
canary,  bulfinch  and  goldfinch,  etc. ;  the  imitators 
of  the  human  voice,  as  the  parrots,  magpies,  star- 
ling and  raven  ;  and  those  for  their  plumage  alone, 
as  the  lovebirds,  humming-bird,  etc.  I  will  give 
you  a  few  statistics  to  show  the  amount  of  busi- 
ness carried  on  in  these  pets,  taken  from  "  May- 
hew's  London  Labour  and  London  Poor."  Six 
thousand  live  larks  are  sold  every  year  in  Lon- 
don. These  birds  require  fresh  turf,  the  cutting 
of  which  employs  forty  men  who  cut  600,000 
turfs  about  six  inches  square,  weighing  nearly 


A  Chapter  on  Pets.  323 

546  tons,  which  placed  side  by  side  would  extend 
fifty-six  miles.  Perhaps  you  have  heard  the  tale 
of  the  lark  taken  to  Canada  by  an  emigrant ;  the 
vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  wrecked,  and  the 
lark  (Charley)  was  all  he  saved.  His  owner  settled 
at  Toronto,  and  three  separate  times  he  was  offered 
one  hundred  dollars  for  Charley ;  another  time  a 
farmer  offered  one  hundred  acres  of  land ;  and  a 
Sussex  carter,  hearing  him,  offered  his  team  and 
cart,  all  he  possessed,  without  success.  Seven 
thousand  linnets,  3,000  bulfinches,  1,500  chaf- 
finches, 700  greenfinches,  200  nightingales,  600 
redbreasts,  3,500  thrushes,  1,400  blackbirds,  1,000 
canaries,  1,500  starlings,  500  magpies  and  jack- 
daws, and  2,000  duffed  birds  are  supposed  to  be 
sold  yearly  in  the  streets,  the  value  of  which,  in- 
cluding parrots,  would  produce  a  yearly  sum  of 
more  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Two  thousand  four  hundred  squirrels  are  re- 
quired to  fill  up  the  vacancies,  and  bring  the  sellers 
about  one  thousand  two  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
There  is  a  curious  tale  told  of  a  Scotch  magistrate 
who  had  a  case  before  him  of  a  servant  girl  who 
sued  her  mistress  for  her  wages;  the  defense 
being  that  she  had  allowed  a  favorite  squirrel  to 
escape.  The  magistrate,  after  hearing  the  parties, 
said  :  "  That  although  the  girl  was  to  blame  for 
leaving  the  cage  door  open,  yet  tlie  mistress  was 
more  to  blame  than  her,  for  she  sud  hae  clippit 


224  A  Chapter  on  Pets. 

the  beast's  wings,  sae  that  it  cud  na  flee  awaj !  ! " 
A  pet  dog  is  the  most  extravagant  thing  to  keep 
in  London,  owing  to  its  being  so  easily  stolen. 
The  sale  of  dogs  in  London  reaches  the  sum  of 
forty-five  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Pigeons  are 
another  specimen  of  pets.  One  of  the  great  uses  of 
pigeons  as  messengers  is  now  at  an  end,  owing  to 
the  invention  of  the  electric  telegraph.  Perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  instance  of  the  successful 
employment  of  pigeons  was  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  the  eldest  son  of 
Louis  Philippe.  He  was  killed  by  jumping  out 
of  his  carriage  in  Paris,  which  happened  after  the 
publication  of  the  papers  in  Paris,  and  an  account 
of  it  appeared  in  the  London  Times  next  morning 
before  it  was  really  known  in  Paris. 

I  must  not  forget  the  cat,  which  they  average 
to  be  about  one  to  every  ten  inhabitants.  Thus  in 
London  there  must  be  an  army  of  over  200,000 
cats ;  and,  as  dogs  and  cats  must  be  fed,  they  em- 
ploy in  London  about  one  thousand  men  who  sell 
cat's  meat ;  this  is  the  flesh  of  dead  horses,  which  is 
boiled  and  peddled  through  the  streets  in  bar- 
rows. It  is  calculated  they  boil  every  year  for 
this  purpose  fifty-two  thousand  horses,  and  the 
2)eople  pay  for  this  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Many  English  regiments  have  their  pets,  which 
always  lead  the  march.  The  Twenty-third  Fusi- 
liers,  a  Welsh  regiment,  always  have  a  goat; 


A  Chapter  on  Pets. 


225 


another  will  have  a  sheep  ;  one,  I  know  of,  has  an 
elephant.  Scotch  regiments  like  the  deer.  The 
Seventh  once  had  a  bear.  The  Sheffield  militia, 
for  years,  always  had  a  dog.  He  regularly  ap- 
peared the  first  day  of  training,  and  disappeared 
on  the  last,  no  one  knowing  where  he  came  from. 
A  French  regiment  of  Spahis  in  Algeria  had  a 
lion's  cub,  which  was  brought  in  by  Jules  Gerardp 
but  the  attempt  to  tame  him  proved  futile. 


THE  MOOSE  HUNT. 

SOME  years  ago,  being  sent  into  Maine  for  the 
benefit  of  my  health,  having  broken  down 
through  Qver-stady  at  college,  I  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  be  present  at  a  moose  hunt;  a  treat 
worth  living  a  year  in  the  forest  to  be  at. 

We  started,  that  is  four  of  us,  at  daybreak,  on 
snow-shoes.  The  novelty  of  thus  traveling  was 
great :  they  take  you  so  rapidly  over  the  ground. 
They  are  from  three  to  four  feet  long,  and  rather 
narrow,  the  frame  work  is  generally  of  ash  wood 
and  woven  across  with  leather  or  moose-hide 
thongs,  very  like  basket-work,  with  straps  to  hold 
them  on  the  feet ;  two  or  three  pairs  of  stockings 
and  moccasins  are  generally  worn  with  them ; 
being  so  light  and  strong,  they  bear  you  on  the 
surface  of  the  snow,  while  j-our  feet  would  strike 
through.  The  first  day  we  could  not  find  any 
trace  of  game.  About  noon  the  next,  my  un- 
cle, with  an  Indian,  appeared  on  the  scene.  My 
uncle  and  Pete  (the  Indian)  arranged  their  snow- 

226 


The  Moobe  Hunt.  227 

shoes  and  then  we  started  again  in  quest  of 
our  pre}^  Before  long  I  felt  certain,  by  watching 
Pete's  curious  ways,  that  we  were  on  the  track  of 
moose;  and  w^hen  darkness  came  on, and  not  any 
signs  of  them,  I  felt  disappointed.  ''  All  right, 
me  get  them  yet;  moose  neber  go  off  that  way  — 
throwing  his  hand  forward  in  a  tangent  —  sure 
come  again ;  go  round,  so,"  describing  a  circle. 

So  we  commence  to  scoop  out  the  snow,  and 
prepare  to  make  ourselves  comfortable  for  the 
night  with  our  buffalo  robes  over  us,  with  a  good 
fire  to  help  to  keep  us  warm. 

At  the  earliest  dawn  we  awoke,  and  having 
eaten  our  breakfast,  and  fastened  on  our  snow- 
shoes,  we  prepared  to  start  again,  and  soon  found, 
to  our  great  joy,  tliat  Pete  was  right :  w^e  were  in 
the  center  of  a  moose  circle.  Pete  told  me  as 
well  as  he  could  that  a  few  moose  congregate 
together,  and  tramp  down  the  snow  in  a  circle, 
sometimes  of  a  mile,  inside  of  which  they  browse 
on  the  young  trees.  The  sun  had  hardly  risen 
before  we  saw  one  of  these  splendid  fellows  loom- 
ing up,  as  he  roamed  about  in  search  of  his  break- 
fast. I  Av^as  delighted  with  this  opportunity  of 
watching  the  native  of  these  forests  perfectly  at 
home,  browsing  from  one  tree  and  another.  iS'o 
museum  or  picture  can  give  an  adequate  descrip- 
tion of  their  movements  so  well  as  one  glance  at 
them  will  do  it.     Pete  said  :  "  He  hear  'em  soon ; 


228  The  Moose  Hunt. 

.soon  smell  'em!  "  and  so  he  seemed  to  be  scenting 
the  danger ;  then  the  chase  began.  The  sound 
of  tlie  first  shot,  it  failing  to  hit  him,  has  started 
him  into  a  rapid  trot.  Away  we  fly  over  the 
snow,  now  seeing  him,  then  losing  all  sight  of 
him  in  the  forest-aisles. 

Toward  noon  we  sighted  a  pair  of  these  grand 
animals,  when  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed. 
I  never  witnessed  such  a  scene  ;  all  shouting  like 
boys.  In  less  than  an  hour  we  had  run  down 
and  shot  one.  The  exertion  and  excitement 
began  to  tell  on  my  weak  frame,  and  my  uncle 
insisted  on  my  return  to  the  camp,  not,  however, 
before  we  had  skinned  the  animal,  so  I  could  take 
some  of  the  meat  back  with  me.  Before  starting, 
we  broiled  some,  and  I  never  enjoyed  a  steak  so 
much  before ;  the  exercise  and  pure  air  made  it 
taste  far  superior  to  a  porterhouse  steak,  which  it 
much  resembled. 

Before  we  left  the  beat,  I  stumbled  over  a  pro- 
truding moose-horn  which  we  dug  up.  I  intend  to 
have  it  dressed  for  my  room,  for  I  feel  sure  I  must 
have  shot  him.  A  gentleman  once  succeeded  in 
partially  taming  a  pair,  and  drove  them  in  a  car- 
riage, but  they  only  lived  a  short  time. 


FOUR-FOOTED  HUNTERS. 

THEEE  were  twelve  lions  in  tlie  troop — old 
males,  females,  and  whelps  of  different  ages ! 
A  terrific  spectacle  to  look  upon,  in  any  other  way 
than  through  the  bars  of  a  cage,  or  out  of  a  third- 
story  window.  But  we  beheld  them  on  an  open 
plain,  and  at  the  dangerous  proximity  of  three 
hundred  yards ! 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  a  sudden  stop  was  put 
to  our  advance,  and  that  every  one  of  the  six  was 
more  or  less  alarmed.  Although  we  knew  that, 
as  a  general  rule,  the  lion  will  not  attack  man 
without  provocation,  it  might  be  different  where 
such  a  number  were  together.  Twelve  lions 
would  have  made  short  work  of  one  and  all.  "No 
wonder  we  trembled  at  sight  of  such  a  troop,  and 
60  near  ;  for  the  brow  of  a  ridge,  running  abruptly 
down  to  the  plain,  was  all  that  lay  between  us 
and  the  dreaded  assemblage.  A  few  bounds  would 
have  brought  the  lions  to  the  spot  on  which  we 
stood! 

229 


230  FotJB-FoOTED    HUNTEKS. 

After  the  first  moments  of  surprise  and  alarm 
had  passed,  we  bethought  ourselves  how  to  act.  Of 
course,  the  pallahs  were  driven  completely  out  of 
our  mind,  and  all  ideas  of  a  hunt  given  up.  To 
have  descended  into  that  valley,  would  have  been 
to  have  encountered  twice  our  own  number  of 
lions.  "We  did  not  think  for  a  moment  of  going 
farther,  nor,  indeed,  of  anything  but  retreating ; 
and  it  cannot  be  said  that  we  thought  of  that,  for 
it  was  the  instinct  of  the  moment. 

"  Back  to  our  horses  ! "  we  whispered,  the 
moment  we  set  eyes  on  the  lions ;  and  in  less 
than  two  minutes'  time,  we  were  seated  in  our 
saddles. 

Our  presence  had  not  been  discovered  by  the 
lions.  Two  circumstances  had  favored  us,  and 
prevented  this.  The  ridge  over  which  we  were 
passing  was  covered  with  underwood,  and  the 
"  bosch,''  reaching  as  high  as  our  heads,  had  shel- 
tered us  from  view.  The  other  circumstance  in 
our  favor  was  that  the  wind  was  blowing  dowTi 
the  valley,  and  therefore  from  the  lions  and 
toward  ourselves.  Otherwise,  we  should  have 
been  scented,  and  of  course,  discovered.  Still  an- 
other circumstance —  we  had  been  advancing  in 
silence,  on  account  of  the  design  we  had  formed 
of  stalking  the  pallahs.  The  lions,  therefore,  still 
remained  ignorant  of  our  proximity.  Once  on 
horseback  our  party  felt  secure,  and  soon  got  over 


FouK-FooTED  Hunters.  231 

their  little  "flurry."  Each  knew  that  the  noble 
creature  that  carried  him,  could  show  any  lion  his 
heels.  Once  mounted,  all  felt  that  the  danger 
was  over. 

Two  of  our  number  were  not  satisfied  to  retreat 
in  this  way.  They  were  resolved  on,  at  least,  hav- 
ing another  '^peep"  at  the  dangerous  game;  and, 
therefore,  prepared  to  return  to  their  former  point 
of  observation,  of  course  this  time  on  horseback. 

The  antelopes  were  still  feeding  quietly  near 
the  center  of  the  open  ground.  The  lions  were, 
as  yet,  on  the  ground  where  they  had  been  first 
observed.  That  the  deer  knew  nothing  of  the 
proximity  of  their  dangerous  neighbors  was  veiy 
evident,  else  they  would  not  have  been  moving  so 
sedately  along  the  sward.  They  had  no  suspicion 
that  an  enemy  was  near.  The  lions  were  in  the 
lower  end  of  the  valley,  and  therefore  to  lee- 
ward of  them  —  for  the  wind  was  blowing  fair 
down  stream,  and  came  right  in  the  faces  of  the 
hunters.  A  thicket,  moreover,  screened  the  lions 
from  the  eyes  of  the  herd. 

It  was  equally  evident  that  the  beasts  of  prey 
were  well  aware  of  the  presence  of  the  antelope. 
Their  actions  proved  this.  At  short  intervals  one 
trotted  to  the  edge  of  the  "bosch,"  in  crouching 
attitude,  looked  out  to  the  open  plain,  and  after  a 
moment  or  two  returned  to  his  companions,  just 
as  if  he  had  been  sent  to  "  report."  The  old  males 


232  FouR-FooTED  Hunters. 

and  lionesses  stood  in  a  thick  clump,  and  seemed 
to  be  holding  a  consultation  !  "We  had  not  a 
doubt  but  that  they  were  doing  this  very  thing, 
and  that  the  subject  of  their  deliberation  was  the 
herd. 

At  length  the  *'  council "  appeared  to  break  up. 
The  troop  separated,  each  taking  a  different  direc- 
tion. Some  went  along  the  bottom  of  the  valley, 
while  several  were  seen  to  proceed  towards  the 
mountain  foot. 

When  these  last  had  reached  the  groves  before 
mentioned,  they  turned  upwards ;  and,  one  after 
another,  were  seen  crouching  from  clump  to  clump, 
crawling  along  upon  their  bellies,  as  they  passed 
through  the  long  grass,  and  evidently  trying  to 
shelter  themselves  from  the  view  of  the  deer. 

Their  object  now  became  clear.  They  were 
proceeding  to  the  upper  end  of  the  valley,  with 
the  design  of  driving  the  game  upon  those  that 
had  remained  below — in  fact,  carrying  out  the 
identical  plan  which  we  had  projected  but  the  mo- 
ment before  !  We  marveled  at  this  singular  co- 
incidence ;  and  as  we  sat  in  our  saddles  could  not 
help  admiring  the  skill  with  which  our  rivals  were 
carrying  out  our  own  plan. 

Those — three  there  were — that  had  gone  skulk- 
ing up  the  edge  of  the  valley,  were  soon  out  of 
sight — hidden  under  the  "  bosch  "  that  grew  at  the 
opposite  end,  and  which  they  had  been  seen  to  en- 


FouK-FooTED  Hunters.  233 

ter.  Meanwhile,  the  other  nine  had  spread  them- 
selves along  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  each  taking 
station  under  cover  of  the  bushes  and  long  grass. 
The  trap  was  now  fairly  set. 

For  a  few  minutes  no  movement  was  observed 
on  the  part  either  of  lions  or  deer.  The  former 
lay  crouched  and  stealthily  watching  the  herd — 
the  latter  browsed  peacefully  along  the  sward,  per- 
fectly unconscious  of  the  plot  that  was  '^  thicken- 
ing "  around  them. 

Something  at  this  moment  seemed  to  render 
them  suspicious.  They  appeared  to  suspect  that 
there  was  danger  threatening.  The  buck  raised 
his  head  ;  looked  around  him  ;  uttered  a  hiss, 
somewhat  like  the  whistling  of  deer ;  and  struck 
the  ground  a  smart  rap  or  two  with  his  hoof.  The 
others  left  off  browsing,  and  several  of  them  were 
seen  to  bound  up  into  the  air — after  the  very  sin- 
gular manner  of  springboks. 

'No  doubt  they  had  scented  the  lions,  now  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  valley — as  the  breeze  from  that 
quarter  blew  directly  towards  the  herd. 

It  was  surely  that ;  for  after  repeating  his  sig- 
nal, the  old  buck  himself  sprang  many  feet  into 
the  air,  and  then  stretched  himself  in  full  flight. 
The  others  of  course  followed,  leaping  up  at  inter- 
vals as  they  ran. 

As  the  lions  had  well  calculated,  the  antelopes 
came  directly  down  the  valley,  breast  forward,  upon 


2^4  FOUK-FOOTED    HUNTEBS. 

their  line.  E'eitlier  the  wind  nor  anything  warned 
them  of  the  dangerous  ambuscade  ;  and  in  a  few 
short  moments  tiiey  were  close  to  the  patches  of 
brushwood.  Then  the  nine  huge  cats  were  seen 
to  spring  out  as  if  moved  by  one  impulse,  and 
launch  themselves  into  the  air.  Each  had  chosen 
a  rooyebok,  and  nearly  every  one  succeeded  in 
bringing  his  victim  to  the  earth.  A  single  blow 
from  the  paw  of  their  strong  assailants  was  enough 
to  stretch  the  poor  antelopes  on  the  plain,  and  put 
an  end  at  once  to  their  running  and  their  lives. 
So  sudden  was  the  attack,  and  so  short-lived  the 
struggle,  that  in  two  seconds  from  the  time  the 
lions  made  their  spring,  each  might  be  seen  crouch- 
ing over  a  dead  deer,  with  his  paws  and  teeth 
buried  in  its  flesh  ! 

Three  alone  escaped,  and  ran  back  up  the  val- 
ley. But  a  new  ambush  awaited  them  there ; 
and  as  they  followed  the  path,  that  led  through 
the  thicket  at  the  upper  end,  each  became  the  prey 
of  a  lurking  lion. 

Not  one  of  the  beautiful  antelopes,  that  but  the 
moment  before  were  bounding  over  the  plain  in 
all  the  pride  and  confidence  of  their  speed,  was 
able  to  break  through  the  line  of  deadly  enemies 
so  cunningly  drawn  around  them  ! 

We  remained  for  some  minutes  gazing  upon 
the  singular  spectacle  and  then  rode  back  to  the 
wagons. 


FODB-FOOTED   HuNTEES.  235 

Arriving  there,  a  consultation  was  held  how  we 
were  to  proceed.  It  would  be  a  dangerous  busi- 
ness to  trek  up  the  narrow  valley  guarded  by  such 
a  troop.  For  there  is  no  time  when  these  animals 
are  more  dangerous  to  attack  than  just  after  they 
have  killed  their  game  and  are  drinking  its  blood. 
At  such  a  moment  they  are  extremely  ferocious, 
and  will  follow  with  implacable  vengeance  any  one 
who  may  disturb  them.  It  would  be  more  pru- 
dent, therefore,  not  to  provoke  such  a  powerful 
band,  but  to  retire  altogether  from  the  spot.  A 
ford  was  therefore  sought  for,  and  found  at 
some  distance  below ;  and,  having  crossed  our  wag- 
ons, we  encamped  on  the  opposite  side,  as  it  was 
too  late  to  move  farther  that  night. 

We  had  done  well  to  go  across  the  river,  for 
during  the  whole  niglit  the  fierce  brutes  were 
heard  roaring  terrifically  upon  the  side  where  they 
had  been  observed.  In  fact,  the  place  appeared 
to  be  a  regular  den  of  lions. 


ysB 


STORY   OF  REYNARD  THE   FOX 


THE  Spring  appeared  in  all  its  glory,  and  the 
husbandman  anticipated  the  coming  season 
with  joy ;  the  trees  were  clothed  in  verdure,  and 
the  fields  were  enamelled  with  flowers ;  the  birds 
saluted  the  morning  sun  with  hymns  of  gladness, 
and  poured  forth  vesper  songs,  as  the  glorious 
luminary  descended  behind  the  western  mountains. 
The  brilliant  loveliness  of  nature,  and  the  exhi- 
larating influence  of  the  atmosphere,  mollified  the 
stern  heart  of  the  royal  Lion,  King  of  beasts  and 
birds,  insomuch  that  he  determined  to  hold  a  so- 
lemn festival  at  his  imperial  palace,  and,  under  the 
guise  of  apparent  condescension  and  friendly  convi- 
viality, investigate  any  charges  of  partiality  against 
his  judges,  or  oppression  on  the  part  of  his  other 
powerful  subjects.  Accordingly,  he  issued  a  pro- 
clamation, commanding  all  his  lieges,  both  beasts 
and  birds,  to  attend  his  court,  on  pain  of  his  royal 
displeasure ;  announcing  at  the  same  time,  that  a 
sumptuous  entertainment  would  be  provided  for 

236 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  237 

them.  When  the  important  day  arrived,  birds  and 
quadrupeds  from  every  quarter  might  be  seen 
thronging  the  court.  The  gates  of  the  grand  saloon 
were  thrown  open,  and  the  great  feudatories — such 
as  Bruin  the  Bear,  Isegrim  the  Wolf,  Pard  the 
Leopard,  Grevincus  the  Badger,  and  Springer  the 
Hound,  took  their  places  near  the  throne,  while 
the  herd  of  the  commonalty  kept  at  a  respectful 
distance. 

One  of  the  most  sagacious  barons  of  the  kingdom^ 
however,  had  absented  himself.  This  was  no  less 
a  personage  than  Reynard  the  Fox.  He  had  for- 
merly held  high  office  under  his  Majesty ;  but  while 
he  pretended  to  live  only  for  the  good  of  the 
commonweal  and  the  honour  of  his  master,  self* 
interest  was  his  ruling  passion ;  moreover,  he  had 
such  a  strong  liking  for  dainties,  that  he  had  been 
known  to  disguise  himself,  and  purloin  the  King's 
poultry  on  their  way  to  the  royal  demesne ;  and 
yet,  next  day,  with  unequalled  address  and  con- 
summate dexterity,  he  would  throw  the  odium  of 
the  theft  on  some  political  rival  whom  it  was  his 
interest  to  keep  down ;  thus  making  the  prostrate 
body  of  an  innocent  competitor  a  stepping-stone 
to  power,  and  strengthening  the  royal  partiality 
by  unworthy  means.  Conscious  of  guilt,  the  ex 
minister  pretended  to  be  grievously  sick,  and  could 
not  do  himself  the  honour  to  wait  on  his  Majesty ; 
while  the  fact  was,  that  he  was  afraid  to  trust  the 
royal  amnesty,  as  he  well  knew  he  should  be  ac- 
cused by  certain  of  his  political  or  personal  enemies 
when  they  became  exhilarated  by  the  influence  of 


238  The  Stort  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

the  delicious  wine  which  was  sure  to  circulate  with 
regal  hospitality.  After  an  interchange  of  friendly 
greetings  and  salutary  conversation,  the  august 
party  descended  to  the  banqueting  hall,  where  they 
found  the  tabr"  furnished  with  regal  magnificence. 
Each  took  his  ^.lace  with  decorum,  while  his  Ma- 
jesty addressed  his  guests  with  dignified  familiarity 
and  amicable  courtesy.  The  viands  disappeared 
with  great  rapidity  from  the  well-replenished  board; 
the  goblet  circulated  right  royally ;  the  company, 
who  were  at  first  awe-struck  by  the  imperial  glance; 
were  now  at  their  ease ;  political  disquisitions  be- 
came loud  and  fiery;  and  atrocious  stories  were 
told  off,  and  heavy  accusations  made  against  Rey- 
nard the  Fox. 

Up  rose  Isegrira  the  wolf;  and  having  made 
his  conge  to  the  throne,  bellowed  forth  his  com- 
plaint against  Reynard  until  the  gilded  cornices 
rung  again.  "  I  beseech  you,  dread  Sovereign,  take 
pity  on  me  and  my  wife  for  the  injuries  we  have 
suffered  by  that  false  craven  Reynard.  He  intruded 
himself  into  my  house,  insulted  my  dear  partner, 
did  violence  to  my  helpless  children,  whereby  some 
of  them  lust  their  precious  eye-sight,  and  then,  like 
a  coward,  slunk  to  his  hole  without  giving  me  the 
satisfaction  of  a  gentleman.  Were  I  to  record  his 
crimes,  it  would  be  a  black  indictment,  and  would 
fill  many  volumes.  By  setting  the  laws  at  defiance. 
Sire,  he  slights  you,  while  he  injures  the  public 
with  impunity."  Isegrim  having  caught  the  eye  of 
the  Monarch,  again  made  his  obeisance,  and  resumed 
his  seat.     Whereupon  Springer  started  to  his  legs, 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  239 

and,  having  crouched  before  the  throne,  accused  the 
unhappy  culprit  Reynard  of  robbing  him  of  his  per- 
quisites of  office,  namely,  the  skeletons  of  geese  and 
other  fowls,  beef  and  mutton  bones,  together  with 
rancid  sausages  and  decayed  bacon.  He  averred 
that  such  proceedings  were  intolerable,  and  ought 
to  be  punished  by  the  laws  of  this  and  every  well- 
regulated  kingdom;  and  this  failing,  such  vaga- 
bonds should  be  proceeded  against  by  fire  and 
sword.  Upon  which,  Malkin  the  Cat,  with  a  fiery 
countenance  and  bristling  whiskers,  mewed  forth  a 
speech  in  the  ears  of  Majesty  which  plainly  showed 
that  self-interest  had  blinded  her  judgment.  So 
making  a  semicircle  of  her  back,  and  stretching  out 
her  tail,  she  said — "  My  lord,  I  confess  that  Rey- 
nard the  Fox  is  an  atrocious  villain,  fraudulent, 
and  a  thief;  but  there  are  certain  others  who  may 
be  proved  as  bad  as  he.  Springer  the  Hound  has 
all  the  will  to  be  a  thief  without  the  ability.  The 
bacon  which  he  alleges  to  have  been  stolen  from 
him  by  Reynard,  he  meanly  stole  from  me — al- 
though he  knew  very  well  I  risked  life  and  limb 
in  taking  it  out  of  the  mill  by  night  when  the  miller 
lay  asleep." 

Bruin  the  Bear,  who  thought  himself  the  hand 
somest  person  in  the  assembly,  and  anxious  to  dis 
play  his  elocution  before  royalty,  got  upon  his  hind 
legs,  and,  leaning  on  a  pole  to  which  he  had  been 
accustomed  in  a  caravan,  he  hoarsely  complained 
of  grievances  and  losses.  He  gazed  in  the  Monarches 
face,  and,  unabashed,  told  his  Sovereign  that  he  had 
more  important  infoi  mation  to  lay  before  his  ma« 


240  The  Story  of  Eeynard  the  Fox. 

jesty  than  any  that  had  yet  been  tendered ; — "  They 
are  worthy  of  the  care  of  a  prince  and  the  anger  of 
a  king.  Although  your  Majesty  has  thought  tha 
Fox  a  saint  heretofore,  I  will  prove  him  a  fiend. 
His  father  was  hanged,  his  mother  was  burned  for 
sorcery,  he  was  inured  to  thieving  from  infancy, 
which  malady  can  only  be  cured  by  a  rope.  Often 
has  he  wished  you  laid  with  your  fathers,  and  made 
vows  to  the  evil  spirits  for  your  destruction,  in  the 
vain  hope  of  cajoling  the  giddy  crowd  and  ascend- 
ing your  royal  throne.  On  the  faith  of  treaties,  a 
harmless  Eabbit  came  to  sojourn  in  your  imperial 
city ;  Eeynard,  the  villain,  sneaked  up  to  the  sim- 
pleton, and  smilingly  asked  him  if  he  would  learn 
a  song.  The  knave  made  him  believe  that  he 
would  not  only  teach  him  music,  but  that  he  had 
interest  enough  to  introduce  him  to  court,  and  pro- 
cure him  the  privilege  of  singing  before  royalty — 
when,  if  successful,  his  fortune  was  made.  The 
fool  believed  him,  and  elevated  his  head  and  ex- 
panded his  chest,  as  ordered  by  the  singing  master. 
While  in  this  attitude,  he  seized  his  victim  by  the 
throat,  just  as  he  was  warbling  and  quavering  the 
first  or  second  bars  of  an  Italian  air;  and  would 
have  doubtless  murdered  the  innocent  but  for  me, 
who  happily  interfered  at  the  critical  moment. 
The  gash  on  his  throat  may  yet  be  seen ;  and  the 
silly  wretch  is  now  here  to  prove  my  accusation. 
There  are  none  secure  from  his  treasons.  He  de- 
ceives the  rich,  robs  the  poor,  murders  the  weak., 
and  betrays  the  strong.  Your  Majesty's  crown  ia 
in  danger  if  he  is  suffered  to  prowl  longer  through 


The  SroRY  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  241 

your  dominions;  and  with  one  voice  we  cry  for 
j'istice."  The  crowd  rent  the  sky  with  their  phm- 
dits,  and  all  repeated,  "Let  the  traitor  perish  !" 

Grevincus  the  Badger,  who  was  Reynard's 
nephew,  being  moved  with  high  wrath  and  indig- 
nation on  hearing  his  kinsman  thus  impeached,  and 
on  the  brink  of  condemnation,  manfully  stood  up, 
and  told  the  revellers  in  plain  terms,  that  "If 
Reynard  were  here,  they  durst  not  abuse  the  ear  of 
their  Sovereign  with  falsehoods,  nor  give  promi- 
nence to  the  faults  of  others  to  hide  their  own. 
Thou,  Isegrim,  now  so  loud  and  clamorous,  hast 
found  him  friendly,  and  publicly  bepraised  his  high 
mental  qualities.  The  cunning  which  thou  up- 
braidest  has  often  saved  thee  from  starvation. 
Well  dost  thou  remember  when  the  fishmonger's 
cart  was  driven  through  the  village,  how  he  stif- 
fened his  limbs,  drooped  his  head,  and  glazed  his 
eyes.  The  hind,  thinking  he  had  been  dead,  threw 
him  into  the  cart,  and,  being  snugly  ensconced 
there,  threw  thee  out  as  many  fish  as  served  thy 
famishing  family  for  a  fortnight.  At  the  peril  of 
life  and  limb,  my  sagacious  kinsman  procured  a  fine 
sucking  Pig,  and  while  it  was  becoming  beautifully 
Drown  on  tne  spit  over  a  pool  of  rich  gravy,  thou 
ingrate,  didst  thou  not  meanly  and  feloniously  tear 
it  thence,  and,  like  a  craven  as  thou  art,  slink  away 
to  the  forest  with  it?  thus  doing  treason  to  thy 
hospitable  entertainer,  and  giving  a  proof  of  thy 
worthlessness. 

"  As  to  the  charge  against  my  traduced  relative, 
made  by  Bruin,  the  Rabbit  was  his  scholar,  and 


24:2  The  Story  of  Eeynard  the  Fox. 

bound  by  oath  to  be  his  servant  also.  Had  not  tbe 
master  a  right  to  chastise  his  servant,  the  teacher 
to  correct  his  pupil?  Besides,  the  lad  was  both 
coxcomb  and  dullard  at  the  same  time.  It  would 
have  been  the  simpleton's  ruin  if  my  friend  had 
acted  otherwise.  Springer  the  Hound  pretenda 
that  he  has  been  robbed  !  What  exclusive  right 
he  had  to  goods  which  he  himself  had  stolen,  I 
own  passes  my  comprehension.  Fair  plunder  in 
righteous  wars  is  approved  of  by  our  greatest  gene- 
rals; but  envy  follows  merit,  as  surely  as  the 
shadow  follows  the  substance.  The  humble,  I 
should  say  the  lowly,  condition  in  which  my  rela- 
tion lives,  should  move  your  pity  rather  than  your 
hatred.  Austere  in  his  dress,  severe  in  his  morals, 
frugal  in  everything  except  charity,  coarse  his  fare, 
and  rigorous  in  his  fasting  and  penances,  he  lives 
an  inflexible  recluse,  and  only  thinks  of  his  latter 
end.  Besides,  he  is  often  insulted  by  the  applica- 
tion of  opprobrious  epithets,  and  assaulted  by  the 
meanest  of  your  Majesty's  subjects ;  his  reforma- 
tion is  termed  hypocrisy,  and  the  humility  of  his 
bearing  cowardice. 

"  It  was  only  the  other  day,  when  meditating  in 
the  fields,  and  arrayed  in  full  canonical  costume, 
he  chanced  unwittingly  to  pass  a  poultry  yard ;  and 
although  he  was  armed  with  your  Majesty's  decree, 
commanding  peace  and  amity  among  the  various 
tribes  of  your  kingdom,  the  whole  colony  rushed 
out  on  the  harmless  recluse  with  bludgeons,  brooms, 
pitchforks,  and  other  deadly  weapons,  and  but  that 
he  was  '  cunning  of  fence/  they  would  have  takeu 


Tri^  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  243 

his  life ;  and,  to  crown  iho  indignitj,  a  contempti- 
ble Peacock,  tricked  out  in  gaudy  frippery,  but  a 
coward  at  heart  withal,  soared  to  a  place  of  safety, 
and  screamed  forth  such  a  torrent  of  vile  language 
as  was  never  heard  in  any  of  your  Majesty's  fish- 
markets.  If  during  the  fray  some  of  the  family 
of  Gallus  suffered  in  either  life  or  limb,  I  know 
not,  but  one  thing  I  am  certain  of,  that  tlie  interi' 
tions  of  my  much  abused  relative  were  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with  your  Majesty's  decree." 

While  Grevincus  was  labouring  towards  hia 
climax,  he  was  stopt  short  by  seeing  a  sad  proces- 
sion approach  the  court.  Gallus  the  Cock,  togethei 
with  a  long  train  of  sons  and  neighbours,  advanced 
lamenting,  and  crying  for  justice;  and,  to  enhance 
the  melancholy  scene,  the  body  of  Gallena,  his 
daughter,  was  laid  on  a  bier,  who  had  been  lately 
murdered  by  Eeynard. 

Gallas  the  Cock  stood  before  the  King's  tri- 
bunal, impatient  to  avenge  the  blood  of  his 
beloved  daughter.  Her  brothers  bemoan  their 
father^s  bereaved  condition,  and  bewail  the  un- 
timely fate  of  their  sister.  When  the  first  parox- 
ysm of  grief  subsided  a  little,  Gallus  addressed 
himself  to  the  Monarch : — "  Behold,  Sire,  a  loyal 
subject  wretched  and  old ;  robbed  of  his  children 
who  were  dearer  than  life.  I  was  the  happy  father 
of  twelve  stately  sons,  and  twenty  fair  daughters. 
They  had  board  and  education  in  an  abbot's  yard, 
where  their  physical  and  moral  health  were  well 
looked  after.  They  were  guarded  by  six  friendly 
mastiflfe  day  and  night.     This  circumstance  that 


244  The  Story  of  Reynard  th2.  Fox. 

culprit  Reynard  knew  full  well,  and  despaiied  of 
ever  catching  them  by  surprise.  He  accordingly 
resorted  to  stratagem,  dressed  himself  like  a  monk, 
covered  his  villain's  head  with  a  cowl,  and  pro- 
duced your  royal  mandate  that  feuds  and  fear,  and 
hostile  acts  should  forever  cease  and  determine.  I 
saw  the  imperial  seal  on  the  document,  and  bent 
my  head  in  token  of  reverence  and  obedience. 
The  wily  thief  spoke  demurely  and  penitentially 
of  his  former  immoral  courses ;  told  me  that  pen- 
ance should  be  his  daily  task  hereafter;  that  he 
should  endeavour  to  divest  himself  of  all  earthly 
cares,  all  worldly  passions ;  that  cooling  herbs 
should  be  his  food,  and  these  only  to  be  used  in 
sparing  quantities.  He,  moreover,  produced  a 
forged  certificate  to  prove  himself  a  member  of  the 
brotherhood;  and  when  the  vesper  bell  rung,  he 
counted  his  beads,  and  went  through  certain  devo- 
tional mummeries  with  the  dexterity  of  an  adept. 
I  heard,  saw,  and  believed.  The  tidings  flew  over 
the  whole  yard.  The  gates  were  opened  ;  and  the 
good  mastiffs,  who  had  watched  my  children  with 
BO  much  fidelity,  were  thrown  off  their  guard.  The 
hypocrite  took  advantage  of  the  negligence  which 
his  falsehood  had  produced.  He  rushed  in  and 
devoured  my  daughters,  and  destroyed  my  sons. 
I  have  only  been  able  to  save  the  relics  of  Grallena^ 
which  I  lay  before  your  Majesty  as  a  proof  of  the 
desolation  which  has  overwhelmed  my  house." 

Maugre  the  imperial  diadem  and  mantle,  the 
golden  sceptre,  and  the  jewelled  throne,  the  Sove- 
reign wept!  and,  frowning  sternly  on  Grevincua 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  245 

the  Badger,  cx<.'lainicd,  "Ha!  is  this  the  wcy  the 
new  monastic  spends  his  time?  He  seems  to  defy 
Jove's  thunder  and  his  Sovereign's  mandates.  We 
can  bear  this  insolence  no  longer.  He  dies !  Inter 
the  dead  decently,  and  proceed  instanter  with  the 
vile  assassin  I"  The  funeral  rites  being  performed, 
the  feudatories  assembled,  and  debated  the  matter 
amicably,  how  the  murderer  might  be  brought  to 
justice  with  the  greatest  speed  and  security.  All 
seemed  repugnant  to  the  task,  and  many  were  the 
excuses  offered.  At  length  Bruin  the  Bear,  ani- 
mated more  by  personal  hatred  than  duty  to  his 
King,  undertook  the  task;  and  with  an  oath — such 
as  none  but  bears  use — promised  to  bring  him  up 
to  justice,  dead  or  alive. 

The  Monarch  held  out  the  golden  sceptre  to 
Bruin  the  Bear,  previous  to  his  commencing  his 
dangerous  mission — "Go,  Bruin,  I  command,  but 
take  care  that  thou  art  not  baffled  by  the  strategy 
of  the  rebel ;  give  no  heed  to  his  smiles ;  trust 
not  his  flattery ;  it  is  unworthy  of  a  great  states- 
man to  be  circumvented." 

Impatient  of  advice,  Bruin  felt  a  little  hurt,  and 
growled  forth  a  gasconade.  "  Hear  me,  0  Caesar  I 
If  Reynard  proves  too  cunning  for  me,  let  the 
darksome  womb  of  the  earth  engulf  a  wretch  un- 
worthy of  the  light."  And  bowing  towards  the 
throne,  took  leave.  He  traversed  many  wilds, 
passed  rapid  floods,  descended  into  caves,  and 
searched  the  forests  all  round,  but  saw  nothing  of 
the  outlaw,  and  consequently  had  to  put  up  with 
"  traveller's  lodgings"  for  the  night. 


The  Story  of  Eeynard  the  Fox. 

Reynard  had  built  an  impregnable  fort,  wher^ 
guilt  and  infamy  might  find  a  retreat.  He  dog  it 
deep,  and  compassed  it  with  walls,  hedges,  and  a 
deep  trench.  He  also  contrived  a  sallyport,  known 
only  to  himself.  This  stronghold  Bruin  at  length 
found  out,  and  knowing  it  sheltered  the  rebel,  ho 
thundered  at  the  door,  and  in  tones  of  authority 
accosted  Reynard,  who  gave  him  a  salute  from  the 
walls.  "See,"  says  Bruin,  '*the  King's  august 
command ;  here  is  his  signature,  and  this  is  the 
impression  of  the  royal  signet ;  unbar  your  gates, 
and  allow  the  representative  of  majesty  to  enter.'"' 
Reynard  answered  the  ambassador  in  the  most 
polite  manner, — "  Read  the  King's  commission,  if 
you  please.  Ancient  feuds,  you  know,  have  passed 
between  us ;  but  when  we  are  both  safe,  we  may 
be  free." 

The  Bear  replied  that  his  Majesty  was  highly 
exasperated  against  him.  '*If  you  dare  refuse  to 
obey  his  summons,  he  vows  by  his  throne  that  he 
will  put  your  person  to  the  rack,  and  raze  your 
house  to  the  ground." 

When  Reynard  became  assurt^d  that  our  egotist- 
ical envoy  was  alone,  he  thought  all  was  as  it 
should  be,  so  went  down  and  opened  the  narrow- 
est wicket.  "  Your  pardon,  noble  Bruin.  I  have 
kept  you  waiting  by  far  too  long,  but  I  hope  yoa 
will  excuse  my  fright.  My  matin  service  is  now 
over,  and  I  hasten  to  pay  my  duty.  I  am  aston- 
ished to  see  such  an  august  guest  within  these  poor 
walls  as  yourself.  You  renew  your  former  favours 
in  this  visit.  Great  was  your  journey  I  Ah ;  'tia 
> 


The  Story  of  Re\  iard  the  Fox.  247 

very  rare  to  see  lords  of  your  rank  visit  such  "ham 
ble  iudividuals  as  myself.  Homely  fare  and  a 
hearty  welcome  is  all  your  excellency  must  look 
for  from  me." 

The  insolence  of  office  is  sometimes  laconic. 
"  Come,  Sir  I  my  time  is  short ;  pack  up  your 
baggage  and  march,  or  I  shall  find  a  method  to 
quicken  your  movements." 

"  If  health  permit,  I  shall  follow  your  excellency 
to-morrow ;  they  can  never  restrict  a  person  of  your 
high  rank  to  a  day.  I  am  brought  low  by  pain 
and  sickness.  Alas  1  I  have  scarcely  strength  to 
walk.  My  stomach  is  weak,  and  I  am  prescribed 
to  eat  gruels  and  salads,  and  to  abstain  from  flesh 
altogether.  I  have  as  fine  a  chicken  as  ever  was 
turned  on  a  spit,  but  Dr.  Owl  prohibits  me  from 
touching  it."  The  ambassador,  after  his  long  and 
devious  journey,  being  somewhat  sharp  set,  was 
already  in  fancy  picking  the  bone. 

"You  are  well  provided,  Keynard,"  said  his  ex 
cellency,  in  a  softened  tone.  "  Time  was,  my  lord, 
when  I  had  enough  and  to  spare,  but  I  cannot 
forage  now  as  formerly  ;  I  find  nyself  at  once  sick 
and  poor.  I  have,  however,  plenty  of  honey ^  but 
eating  much  of  that  brought  on  the  colic.  'Tis  rich 
and  pleasant,  but  far  too  luscious  and  sweet  for  me 
and  my  ailments." 

"  Ha  I  you  astonish  me ;  is  honey  really  so  plen- 
tiful here  ?  I  prefer  it  to  flesh,  or  fish,  or  venison, 
or  lobsters,  sturgeon,  jellies,  or  soups.  I  shall 
never  forget  your  favour.  Sir,  if  you  oblige  me 
with  a  jrot,  and  the  larger  the  better." 


248  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

Reynard  was  delighted  to  find  that  Bruin  had 
Bwallowed  the  bait  so  greedily,  and,  bowing  and' 
Brailing,  h^  said,  "Since  3'our  lordship  is  such  a 
lover  of  honey,  my  neighbour  the  husbandman,  I 
have  to  inform  your  lordship,  has  such  a  large 
stock  of  bees,  that  their  hives  will  furnish  you  with 
as  much  honey  as  you  can  consume  in  a  month 
If  your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  walk,  I  will 
exert  allmy  remaining  strength  to  accompany  you ; 
'tis  only  a  short  league." 

To  the  husbandman's  orchard,  accordingly,  they 
trudged  on  in  the  most  friendly  manner;  the  en- 
voy bent  on  delicacies,  the  rebel  on  revenge. 

The  orchard  having  been  reached  under  cloud 
of  night,  the  invaders  surveyed  the  ground  for  a 
breach  or  opening  whereby  they  might  enter.  At 
length  they  found  a  great  oak  tree  with  two  wedges 
in  it,  and  the  cleft  open.  "  I  humbly  beg  your 
excellency,"  said  the  Fox,  "  be  careful,  for  within 
this  tree  is  much  honey ;  eat  moderately,  for  a  sur- 
feit is  dangerous." 

*'  Leave  that  to  my  prudence,"  says  Bruin.  So 
he  entered  the  cleft  with  eagerness,  which  his  wily 
antagonist  perceiving,  pulled  out  the  wedges,  and 
caught  Bruin  in  so  sharp  a  trap,  that  the  poor  en- 
voy howled  with  pain,  while  the  Fox  at  a  distance 
jibed  and  jeered  the  crest-fallen  statesman. 

"  How  does  your  excellency  like  the  honey  ?  As 
you  value  your  duty  to  the  King,  do  not  surfeit 
yourself,  seeing  ye  are  on  an  important  mission." 

The  noise  alarmed  the  whole  village,  the  in- 
habitants of  which  came  and  belaboured  the  Bear's 


The  Story  ov  Reynard  the  Fox.  249 

sides  with  clubs,  and  Loes,  and  pitchforks,  until, 
mad  with  rage,  he  tore  his  bleeding  face  and  paws 
from  the  tree,  and  rushed  blindly  into  a  river  that 
ran  close  by,  knocking  into  the  water  many  of 
the  boors,  and  among  the  rest  the  husbandman's 
wife,  for  whose  sake  every  one  bestirred  himself. 
J^  midst  the  confusion  the  Bear  limped  away,  and 
was  no  more  seen  in  that  quarter. 

Meanwhile,  the  slippery  politician  Reynard  hav- 
ing stolen  a  plump  cockerel  from  the  husband- 
man's roost,  carried  it  to  his  stronghold,  and  having 
made  a  banquet  thereon  that  might  have  served  a 
cardinal,  he  sallied  out  by  his  secret  postern  to  pro- 
cure drink,  and  sauntering  along  the  margin  of  the 
brook,  he  came  upon  the  unfortunate  Bear,  growling 
in  an  under  tone,  and  licking  his  lacerated  paws. 
Adding  insult  to  injury,  he  sneeringly  observed, 

"  Ha  I  by  your  looks  you  have  fed  upon  delicious 
honey  to  repletion,  but  I  fear  you  have  paid  too 
great  a  price  for  your  luxuries.  Your  coat,  too, 
has  also  ehanged  colour.  If  I  mistake  not,  it  was 
formerly  sable,  now  I  perceive  it  is  crimson.  Per- 
haps you  mean  to  leave  the  cares  of  statesmajiship, 
and  retire  into  the  bosom  of  mother-church.  Ah  I 
my  dear  friend,  when  you  receive  a  cardinal's  hat, 
I  hope  your  eminence  will  remember  me,  as  my 
inclinations  run  in  the  same  direction. — Why  do 
you  employ  such  a  clumsy  barber  ?  He  has  scraped 
your  chin  too  close,  and  scarified  your  jaw  I  Your 
tusk — ^your  very  bones,  appear ;  nay,  as  I  live  an 
honest  life,  he  hath  denuded  you  of  half  of  one  of 
your  ears  1" 


250  The  Story  of  Retnard  the  Fox. 

The  discomfited  Bear,  writhing  with  mental  and 
physical  anguish,  replied  not  a  word,  but  limped 
away  to  the  grand  assembly,  where,  in  dismal  ac- 
cents, he  recounted  the  sad  trick  that  Reynard  had 
played  him.  The  mighty  autocrat  of  birds  and 
beasts  was  never  known  to  be  in  such  a  towering 
passion  on  any  former  occasion.  He  started  from 
his  throne — his  mane  bristled,  his  eyes  flashed  fire, 
and  his  tail  swung  from  side  to  side  like  a  pen- 
dulum ;  so,  elevating  his  right  paw,  he  exclaimed — 

"Now,  by  this  earth  and  yon  empyreal  sky! 
The  traitor  shall  with  ignominy  die ; 
The  forms  of  law  from  which  we  never  swerve, 
Our  judges  must  advise,  and  we  observe.** 

The  senate,  nem.  con.,  thanked  him  for  his  speech; 
and  an  impeachment  was  moved  by  the  Bruin  party. 
Grumble  the  Ass  was  the  foremost  spokesman  ;  he 
was  an  advocate  by  profession,  but  was  poor,  proud, 
formal,  obstinate,  and  dull.  Nevertheless,  he  stood 
up  before  the  august  assembly — for  ignorance  is 
always  impudent,  and  constantly  self-possessed. 
He  brayed  a  long  invective  against  the  panel,  ex- 
hibiting his  crimes  in  the  blackest  hues  his  in- 
genuity, such  at  it  was,  could  suggest ;  and  urging 
conviction,  "  for  the  honour  of  the  Sovereign  and 
the  laws,  the  safety  of  the  weak,  and  the  terror  of 
the  wicked." 

A  bill  was  drawn,  read,  and  unanimously  ap- 
proved of,  and  Reynard  was  condemned  to  capital 
punishment.  It  were  wise,  however,  for  people  to 
catch  their  fish  before  they  count  them. 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  251 

It  became  necessary  that  a  new  commissioner  be 
chosen  in  order  to  bring  the  arch  offender  to  justice, 
and  the  choice  of  the  house  unanimously  feil  on 
Malkin  the  Cat,  who,  conscious  of  the  extreme 
hazard  of  the  misiion  imposed  en  him,  and  fearing 
disgrace  and  discomfiture,  urged  a  thousand  reasons 
not  to  be  employed  on  this  piece  of  state  service, 
seeing  how  stronger  beasts  than  he  had  been  hood- 
winked and  circumvented. 

"  It  is  your  wisdom,  Sir  Malkin,  I  employ,"  said 
the  great  King,  "and  not  your  strength;  many 
prevail  with  art,  when  violence  returns  with  lost 
labour;  we  brook  not  reply." 

With  a  heavy  heart  Malkin  made  ready  for  his 
journey,  and  being  well  acquainted  with  the  intri- 
cacies and  sinuosities  of  the  road,  arrived  at  Eey- 
nard's  fortalice  about  eventide.  He  found  the  ob- 
ject of  his  search  sitting  comfortably  with  Dame 
Emelin,  his  wife,  their  children  sporting  around 
them. 

After  a  slight  but  kindly  greeting,  the  new  envoy 
produced  the  King's  summons,  and  assured  the 
recusant  that,  if  the  tenor  of  the  document  was  not 
instantly  complied  with,  "there  is  nothing  more 
assured  unto  you  than  a  cruel  and  sudden  death." 

"Welcome,  welcome,  to  my  poor  habitation," 
said  Reynard;  "in  you  I  behold  the  representative 
of  my  master,  whom  I  revere.  We  have  a  graci- 
ous King,  and  a  just  senate.  My  hfe  and  lands  are 
at  his  pleasure  whom  you  serve ;  but  you  see  it  ia 
late — so,  Avalk  in  and  spend  the  night  in  my  hum- 
ble domicile.     I  shall  carefully  peruse  the  royal  'efr- 


Thb  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

kers,  while  my  wife  makes  ready  a  cleanly,  thougli, 
I  fear,  a  coarse  supper.  But  pardon  me,  my  dear 
cousin,  what  food  do  you  fancy  best ;  we  have  de- 
licious honey." 

'*You  will  pardon  me  for  making  so  free ;  but  I 
prefer  a  delicate  mouse  to  all  the  honey  and  nectar 
in  the  world." 

"  Now,  dear  friend, "  says  the  Fox,  "  I  can  suit 
your  appetite  better  than  the  royal  purveyor  can 
do  even  to  our  imperial  master.  My  neighbour 
the  parson  has  yards  full  of  tithes,  dairies  full  of 
cheese,  vaults  full  of  corn,  so  that  the  mice  there 
are  not  only  plentiful,  but  excel  the  finest  venison 
in  flavour." 

'•  Ah !"  says  Malkin,  "  the  sooner  you  lead  me 
there  the  better.  You  know  the  old  adage,  'A 
parson's  mouse  is  most  delicious  fare.' " 

Then  away  they  went  to  the  parson's  barn, 
which  was  well  walled  about  with  a  mud  wall, 
where  but  the  preceding  night  the  Fox  had  broken 
in  and  stolen  a  fat  hen,  at  which  the  worthy  parson 
was  so  justly  mcensed,  that  he  had  set  a  snare  be- 
fore the  hole  to  catch  him  at  his  next  coming,  which 
the  false  Fox  knew  of,  and  therefore  said  to  the 
Cat,  "Sir  Malkin,  creep  in  at  this  hole,  and  you 
shall  not  tarry  a  minute's  space  before  you  have 
more  mice  of  the  first  quality  than  you  are  able  to 
discuss ;  hark  1  how  they  squeak  I  When  you  are 
satiated,  come  to  me  again,  for  I  will  wait  for  you 
at  this  hole.  To-morrow  we  shall  go  together  to 
court,  but  stay  not  too  long,  for  I  know  my  wife 
will  hourly  expect  us." 


The  Story  op  Reynard  the  Fox.  253 

Malkin  sprang  quickly  in  at  the  hole,  but  in 
a  moment  was  caught  by  the  neck  in  the  snare, 
by  which  he  was  half  strangled — the  more  so,  in 
deed,  as  he  struggled  for  life,  and  mewed  most  pit* 
eously. 

"  You  sing  most  sweetly,  dear  cousin,"  says  the 
betrayer,  "  and  I  make  no  doubt  but  you  could 
dance  equally  Avell,  were  it  not  for  that  confounded 
trap,  which  spoils  the  gracefulness  of  your  move- 
ments. As  you  are  a  cat  of  quality,  you  should 
have  had  your  mice  cooked  according  to  the  canons 
of  Soyer,  and  not  rushed  on  the  harmless  creatures, 
like  a  rapacious  courtier  as  you  are.^ 

The  servants  were  all  alarmed,  and  the  cry  waa 
set  up,  '*  The  Fox  is  taken !"  and  away  they  all 
ran  to  where  poor  Malkin  was  caught  in  the  snare, 
and  without  finding  out  their  mistake,  they  beat 
him  unmercifully,  and  wounded  one  of  his  eyes. 
Mad  with  pain,  the  Cat  suddenly  gnawed  the  cord, 
sprang  on  one  of  the  head  servants,  and  scratched 
him  so  severely  that  he  fainted ;  and  when  every 
one  ran  to  afford  his  mite  of  assistance,  Malkin 
leaped  out  of  the  hole, -and  limped  as  fast  as  his 
wounded  legs  would  carry  him  to  court,  where  the 
King  was  extremely  angry  at  the  treatment  he  had 
received,  and  in  rage  commanded  his  council  to 
nominate  yet  another  messenger  to  bring  that  auda- 
cious rebel  Reynard  to  justice,  when  Grevincus  the 
Badger,  Reynard's  sister's  son,  fearing  it  would 
likely  go  hard  with  his  uncle,  volunteered  to  carry 
his  Majesty's  message  to  his  most  subtile  kinsman, 
to  which  the  king  graciously  consented ;  so  Gre» 


254         The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

vinous  set  forth,  and  ere  long  arrived  at  the  castle 
of  his  relatives. 

Haviag  saluted  the  Fox,  he  said,  "  Take  heed, 
uncle,  that  your  refusal  to  come  to  court  may  not 
do  you  more  harm  than  you  are  aware  of;  for  the 
complaints  against  you  are  many  and  grievoua 
This  is  the  third  summons,  and  if  you  delay  com* 
ing,  you  and  yours  will  find  no  mercy,  for  in  three 
days  your  castle  will  be  demolished,  all  your 
kindred  made  slaves,  and  you  yourself  a  public 
example,  unless  indeed  you  can  make  your  inno- 
cence appear,  which  I  doubt  not,  but  by  discretion 
and  ingenuity  you  can ;  false  pleading,  you  well 
know,  is  often  as  fortunate  as  true.  How  many 
capital  suits  has  Grumble  the  Ass  gained,  who  sel- 
dom speaks  sense,  and  never  speaks  truth  ?" 

Whereupon  Reynard  put  on  a  show  of  candour, 
and  said,  "  Why  should  I  distrust  the  court,  or 
fear  my  judges  ?  My  cause  is  just,  my  innocence  is 
injured ;  but  that  I  hope  soon  to  clear  up.  If  the 
Monarch  and  his  ministers  encourage  slander  and 
slanderers,  the  demand  will  aways  bring  a  supply; 
but  who  in  such  a  state  of  things  can  be  safe.  I 
grant  that  I  have  failings,  but  who  are  without 
them  ?  In  trifles  I  may  now  and  then  transgress, 
but  nothing  serious  can  be  proved  against  me.  I'll 
go  to  CaBsar.  My  honour  has  been  injured,  and 
my  name  made  a  byeword.  I  shall  obliterate  all 
this,  or  bravely  fall." 

While  wending  his  way  to  the  royal  presence 
his  sincerity  was  put  to  a  severe  test,  having  been 
required  to  pass  a  wellknown  poultry  yard,  which 
27 


The  Story  op  Reynard  the  Fox.  255 

had  often  contributed  to  his  larder.  He  triumphed, 
however,  and  on  consideration,  thought  it  would 
not  be  altogether  out  of  place  to  enumerate  a  few 
of  his  crimes^  which  he  had  heretofore  denominated 
failing^',  by  way  of  confession,  to  his  nephew  Gre- 
vincus,  who  had  always  led  an  hermit's  life.  The 
catalogue  is  by  far  too  long  for  a  place  here,  but  it 
consists  of  thefts,  robberies,  and  murders — lambs, 
hares,  rabbits,  geese,  ducks,  cocks,  hens,  pigs,  all 
perished  beneath  the  voracious  fangs  of  this  irre- 
claimable freebooter.  In  one  word,  he  was  a  terror 
to  the  whole  district  where  he  lived ;  and  although 
he  had  address  enough  to  elude  his  pursuers,  he 
was  well  known  by  every  farmer,  cottager,  and 
gamekeeper  in  the  country-side.  He  even  had  the 
hardihood  to  glory  in  his  misdeeds,  and  set  some 
of  them  to  measure  and  music.  Take  the  following 
as  a  specimen : — 

*  Eh,"  quo'  the  Tod,  "  it's  a  braw  light  night, 

The  win's  i'  the  wast,  an'  the  mune  shines  bright, 
The  win's  i'  the  wast,  an'  the  mune  shines  bright, 
An'  I'll  awa'  to  the  toun,  01 

*  I  was  down  amang  yon  shepherd's  scroggs, 
I  had  like  to  been  worried  by  his  dogs, 
But,  by  my  sooth  1  I  minded  his  dogs, 

That  night  I  cam'  to  the  toun,  0 1" 

He's  ta'en  the  grey  goose  by  the  green  sleeve. 
Eh,  ye  auld  witch  1  nae  langer  shall  ye  leeve ; 
Your  flesh  it  is  tender,  your  banes  I  maun  preeT% 
For  that  I  cam'  to  the  toun,  0 1" 


256  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

Up  gat  the  auld  wife  out  o*  her  bed, 
An*  out  o'  the  window  she  shot  her  auld  h^d— 
**Eh,  gudeman  !  the  grey  goose  is  dead, 

An'  the  Tod  has  been  i'  the  toun,  0 1" 

The  news  of  Reynard's  arrival  spread  like  wild- 
fire through  the  assembly.  When  he  took  hia 
place  near  the  throne,  every  member  of  that  au- 
gust house  stood  up  in  order  to  catch  a  glance  of 
one  so  celebrated.  Some  feared  him — some  pitied 
him — others  despised  him — and  many  hated  him. 

With  the  withering  glance  of  injured  innocence, 
he  indignantly  scowled  on  the  junto,  and,  falling 
on  his  knees  before  the  throne,  he  called  loudly  for 
justice.  "Lowly,  O  Caesar  I  like  my  altered  for- 
tunes, I  sue  at  your  feet  for  law  and  justice  I  My 
greatest  crime  has  been  my  inflexible  attachment 
to  your  person  and  government.  Had  I,  like  some 
pretended  loyalists,  sold  your  subject's  charters  and 
their  lives,  to  enrich  myself — had  I  sent  your  fa- 
vourite heroes  to  their  certain  fate — had  I  betrayed 
your  fleets  and  armies  by  secret  correspondence  to 
your  Majesty's  enemies,  I  had  not  this  day  been 
encompassed  with  such  impending  dangers.  Like 
certain  others,  I  might  have  purchased  large  estates, 
erected  lordly  mansions,  and  fostered  my  family  on 
the  lap  of  wealth  at  the  expense  of  my  country ; 
but  my  patriotic  principles  were  too  strong,  and 
my  duty  to  your  Majesty  paramount  to  my  very 
existence.  Believing  your  Majesty  to  be  wise  and 
just,  I  troubled  you  with  no  petitions,  knowing 
well  that  rounded  periods  and  florid  eloquence, 
where  truth  is  lacking,  would  have  been  as  smoke 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox  257 

in  your  nostrils.  Coascious  that  my  services  were 
Biricere,  both  ia  word  and  action,  and  secure  in  rec- 
titude, I  considered  myself  above  the  reach  of 
malice.  They  have  traduced  me,  but  how  can 
they  prove  their  allegations  ?  they  have  impeached 
me,  but  how  can  they  bring  home  guilt  to  me? 
They  have  charged  me  with  disloyalty  and  malver- 
sation— let  them  prove  it."  Here,  folding  his  arms 
across  his  breast,  he  made  a  profound  obeisance, 
and  retired  backward. 

"  Peace,  recreant,"  exclaimed  the  King,  "  I  loathe 
to  hear  thy  vile  defence  and  ihj  wicked  plea.  Thy 
crimes  are  enormous,  so  shall  be  thy  punishment. 
A  more  wretched  cause  than  thine  was  never  vin- 
dicated— a  more  atrocious  villain  never  stood  up  in 
a  court  of  justice,  urging  laws  and  citing  precedents. 
Thy  treason  is  already  proved;  behold  Bruin's 
wounds  and  Malkin's  lacerations!  Were  such 
felons  as  thee  allowed  to  go  at  large,  our  very 
slaves  would  insult  us  I" 

With  more  than  Oriental  humility  in  his  de- 
meanour, Keynard  ventured  to  ask,  "  Why  should 
Bruin's  folly  be  charged  on  me  ?  Like  a  plunderer 
as  he  was  and  is,  and  while  holding  your  Majesty's 
seal  of  office,  he  went  forth  under  cloud  of  night  to 
rob  an  honest  man's  bee-hives,  and  if  he  was  caught 
in  a  cleft  oak,  was  that  any  fault  of  mine  ?  I 
humbly  submit  that  he  has  disgraced  himself  for 
ever — brought  obloquy  on  the  commission  he  bears 
— and  that  his  evidence  is  inadmissable.  The  case 
of  Malkin  is  equally  atrocious.  In  place  of  follow- 
ing up  the  letter  of  his  instructions,  and  making 


258  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox, 

every  thing  give  way,  in  order  that  your  Majesty's 
behests  might  be  obeyed  with  promptitude,  the 
brainless  coxcomb,  giving  way  to  his  gluttonous 
propensities,  neglected  or  despised  the  high  com- 
mission with  which  he  was  charged;  and,  like  a 
common  burglar,  feloniously  broke  into  the  par- 
son's enclosures,  to  the  disgrace  of  himself  and  the 
dishonour  of  your  majesty ;  and  if  he  was  caught 
in  a  gin,  and  half  strangled,  lacerated,  and  buffeted, 
he  really  deserved  it,  but  I  humbly  submit  that  I 
could  neither  foresee  nor  prevent  what  took  place. 
If  it  is  your  Majesty's  high  pleasure  to  put  me  to 
the  rack,  devour  me  by  fire,  or  suspend  me  from  a 
gibbet,  I  shall  gladly  die  a  martyr  to  the  sta'U: ; 
but  historians  hereafter  will  arise,  who,  I  hope, 
shall  do  justice  to  my  memory;  the  example  wiU 
not  be  lost,  and  T  shall  not  have  died  in  vain !" 

Hot  was  the  debate,  and  learned  were  the  argn 
ments  which  pervaded  the  assembly  ;  much  eV>- 
quence  and  more  verbiage  were  displayed  for  and 
against  the  accused.  Some  attempted  to  vindicate 
Bruin ;  others  stood  up  in  favour  of  Malkin  ;  a 
small  knot  of  third-rate  orators  spoke  in  favour  of 
Eeynard ;  but  it  was  evident  from  the  beginning 
that  the  great  majority  would  vote  for  the  death  of 
the  culprit  at  the  bar.  The  bill  was  read  thrice, 
and  ultimately  it  was  touched  by  the  golden  scep- 
tre, which  was  decisive  of  the  fate  of  the  criminal. 

"  Our  very  enemies,"  says  the  Mon<^rch,  "■  will 

confess  that  lenity  has  been  often  fatal  to  the  throne 

and  the  laws.     Traitors  abuse  the  royal  clemency. 

A  base  impostor,  intoxicated  with  the  hopes  of 

27* 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  259 

empire,  which  hopes  have  been  fed  by  the  factious, 
has  had  his  crimes  laid  bai-e  before  us,  and  no 
doubt  remains  on  our  mind  that  he  has  been  bribed 
thereunto  by  foreign  powers." 

Whereupon  the  Senate  arose  simultaneously, 
and  yelled  forth,  "  Long  live  the  King,  and  down 
with  the  rebel." 

The  attainted  baron  was  stript  of  his  cognisance, 
and  fettered ;  and  the  Sheriflfs  with  their  officials 
brought  out  the  doomed  from  the  presence  to  be 
consigned  into  the  hands  of  the  finisher.  Reynard 
ever  had  few  friends,  but  now,  when  fortune  had 
seemed  to  have  forsaken  him,  these  diminished  to 
half  a  dozen  of  his  blood  relations  ;  who  wept  and 
lamented,  not  so  much,  perhaps,  for  the  impend- 
ing fate  of  their  kinsman  as  for  the  disgrace  which 
his  ignominious  exit  would  bring  on  themselves. 

"  What  a  pity,"  cried  they,  "  that  his  untimely 
end  should  stain  the  ancient  honours  of  our  race ! 
Why  should  we  witness  it? — let  us  turn  to  Caesar 
and  crave  leave  to  return  to  our  homes,  that  we  may 
mourn  in  secret  and  in  silence  " 

"  Peers,  powers,  and  sages,"  replies  the  King,  "  1 
know  you  to  be  loyal  and  just,  nevertheless,  I  can- 
not trifle  with  justice.  Faction  is  in  favour  of  Bruin, 
who  has  been  anything  but  prudent,  and  no  doubt 
deserves  to  be  executed;  of  that  hereafter.  But 
your  cousin  must  be  hanged ',  there  is  no  mercy  in 
store  for  such  a  flagrant  rebel,  but  that  circumstance 
shall  never  make  me  part  with  you,  nor  lose  the 
benefit  of  your  counsel." 

Accordingly  Bruin  and  Malkin  pinioned  Rey 


260  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  /ox. 

nard'vS  hands  behind  his  back;  and  Isegrim  the 
Wolf,  although  imbrued  with  innocent  blood,  was 
as  noisy  and  as  eager  to  have  Reynard  brought  Uj 
the  gallows,  as  if  he  had  been  as  pure  and  as  honest 
as  Key  ward  the  Hare,  or  any  other  harmless  beast, 
Shoving  and  pressing  through  the  gaping  crowd, 
he  cried, — "Come  on,  bring  the  thief  along;  let 
some  fetch  the  halter,  and  let  others  bring  the  lad- 
der ;  I'll  guard  him  safe,  and  see  him  fairly  swung. 
Haste !  if  the  rascal  escapes,  we  shall  have  to  pay 
dearly  for  our  negligence.  Look  sharp,  the  knave 
is  as  slippery  as  an  eel ;  perhaps  he  may  yet  wrig 
gle  through  our  fingers.  Lord  Bruin,  I  entreat  you, 
have  a  care  of  him."  "  My  life  for  his,"  says  the 
Bear,  "  until  you  are  entirely  ready,  leave  the  vaga- 
bond with  me;  fix  you  all  the  tackling  securely, 
and  see  that  the  gibbet  be  well  driven  into  the 
ground. 

Meanwhile  the  Queen,  radiant  in  beauty,  imd 
glowing  with  gold  and  jewels,  appeared  on  the 
ground  to  behold  the  death-scene  of  such  a  notable 
public  offender  as  Reynard.  Immediately  all  eyes 
were  turned  on  her  Majesty;  when  Isegrim  the 
Wolf  cried  out  with  vehemence,  "Are  you  mad  to 
loose  this  rogue  ?  I  know  his  malice,  as  well  as 
his  cunning;  if  Jie  get  away  from  us,  your  necks 
will  be  in  danger  1" 

Reynard,  as  a  kind  of  forlorn  hope,  appeals  to 
the  Wolf.  "If,  noble  Isegrim,  you  despise  justice^ 
friendship,  or  gratitude,  never  forget  that  my  blood 
circulates  in  your  veins;  this  should  move  your 
pifcj— your  care  is  needless.   I  am,  alas  I  too  weak  j 


The  Story  of  Reynakd  the  Fox.  261 

a  silken  thread  or  a  spider's  filament  would  secure 
me;  for  what,  then,  are  jou  so  barbarous?  and 
why  will  you  reward  my  good  with  evil  ?" 

"I'll  dash  my  halbert  in  your  teeth,"  replies 
Bruin.  "Come,  noose  him  quickly;  we'll  teach 
him,  brother  Isegrim,  how  to  plot  against  the 
state." 

All  Keynard's  arts  of  persuasion  having  failed, 
he  was  at  length  pinioned,  and  carted  to  the  foot  of 
the  gibbet.  Stung  by  terror  and  remorse,  he  begged 
leave,  as  a  final  favour,  to  make  a  speech  before 
the  fatal  noose  was  applied  to  his  neck.  This  piece 
of  formality  was  reluctantly  granted ;  and  protrud- 
ing his  snout  over  the  cart,  he  said, — "  Good  peo- 
ple, my  destruction  has  been  long  threatened,  and 
death  has  come  at  last ;  my  crimes  sit  heavy  on  me, 
in  pity  let  me  ease  my  mind.  If  you  will  petition 
your  gracious  Sovereign,  he  may  yet  prolong  my 
days.  I  have  much  to  confess,  and,  believe  me,  it 
is  of  great  importance  to  the  state,  but  this  I  can 
only  relate  to  the  King.  It  is  for  my  Sovereign's 
interest  and  that  of  the  whole  empire.  Small  venial 
trespasses  I  will  own  here,  such  as  robbing  orchards, 
slaying  geese,  chickens,  turkeys,  and  all  sort  of  fowl, 
young  kids,  pigs,  lambs  and  various  small  quad- 
rupeds. But,  Sir  Isegrim,  who  is  so  wondrous  busy 
here  to-day,  shared  the  plunder,  and  should  also 
share  the  shame.  We  roamed  together,  and,  in  a 
friendly  manner,  I  invited  him  to  my  house.  The 
winter  stores  which  I  had  provided,  he  stole  again 
and  again ;  and  my  family  would  have  starved  but 
for  the  golden  treasure  which  I  discovered  in  a 


262  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

ruin.     I  never  revealed  this  piece  of  good  fortunt 
althougli  the  hoard  was  worth  the  ransora  of  ten 
kings.     Some  foreign  eneraj,  I  suppose,  had  sent 
this  great  mass  of  golden  ore  to  purchase  votes 
against  the  Government." 

As  the  sound  of  "  gold"  fell  on  the  tympanum 
of  royalty,  he  cried  loudly  from  a  scaffold — "  Car- 
man, hold  I  Inform  us,  Keynard,  where  this  trea- 
sure is  hidden.  Speak  out,  man,  and  despise  the 
fury  of  thy  enemies !" 

"  For  what,"  says  Eeynard,  "  can  such  a  heap  of 
gold  be  hid  but  for  mischief  to  your  Majesty  ?  My 
enemies,  if  I  were  dead,  believe  that  their  treason- 
able plot  would  prosper ;  and  I  would  have  divulged 
this  important  state  secret  sooner,  but  your  Majesty 
was  wroth,  and  would  not  grant  me  a  hearing.  1 
know,  of  a  truth,  that  the  money  is  still  in  the  same 
place  where  I  found  it ;  and,  if  your  highness  will 
condescend,  I  will  show  your  Majesty  the  secret 
passage."  The  King  drank  in  the  story  greedily, 
and  longed  vehemently  to  touch  the  precious  metal. 

Her  Majesty  the  Queen  sat  and  listened  to  the 
story  of  this  new  Eldorado  with  more  than  ordinary 
attention  and  solicitude;  and,  smiling  graciously 
on  the  Fox,  replied — "you  must  not  think  to  im- 
pose on  us  with  your  ingenious  falsehoods ;  but  if 
you  really  speak  the  truth,  I  shall  use  my  feeble 
interest  with  his  Majesty  to  disengage  you  from  the 
Doose,  and  procure  you  a  reprieve,  perhaps  a  par- 
don." 

"  Alas  I  madam,"  says  Eeynard,  "  this  is  neithei 
the  time  nor  place  to  utter  falsehoods     My  friendl 


The  Storv  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  263 

and  brethren,  I  fear,  will  be  found  not  wholly  guilt 
less,  as  I  wish  they  were,  but  I  durst  not  at  thia 
hour  presume  by  lies  to  avert  a  righteous  sentence. 
His  Majesty  would  soon  discover  the  deceit,  and  I 
should  be  more  wretched  than  ever,  to  be  repinioned 
and  sent  back.  I  defy  the  most  implacable  of  my 
enemies  to  urge  I  ever  would  impose  on  wisdom 
and  rfagacity,  such  as  all  the  world  knows  his  gra- 
cious Majesty  eminently  possesses.  If  so,  the  world 
might  well  believe  me  to  be  as  great  a  fool  as  Ise- 
grim,  and  as  stupid  as  Bruin." 

Since  the  moment  her  Majesty  heard  of  the  golden 
tidings,  her  bowels  yearned  for  the  treasure;  so, 
leaning  fondly  on  the  Monarch's  shoulder,  she  pat- 
ted his  cheek  and  said — "  It  grieves  my  heart  to 
the  core,  my  lord,  this  cruel  piece  of  business.  In- 
deed, you  must  not  hang  poor  Reynard.  You  will 
be  the  cause  of  my  death  if  you  proceed  any  farther, 
especially  when  you  know  that  my  whole  heart  ia 
bent  upon  saving  him." 

His  Majesty,  with  a  combination  of  love  and 
benevolence  in  his  looks,  gazed  on  the  Queen  and 
said — "  We  desire  him  to  reveal  all  he  knows,  and 
as  we  like  his  story,  so  shall  it  be  done  unto  him ; 
the  noose  may  be  relaxed,  and  the  condemned 
permitted  to  speak."  Whereupon  Reynard,  with 
trembling  lip  and  faltering  accent,  made  the  fol- 
lowing disclosure: — "My  liege,  the  treasure  which 
I  have  alluded  to,  I  willingly  confess  was  stolen ; 
and  had  it  not  been  stolen  in  that  manner  in  which 
it  was,  it  might  have  cost  your  Majesty  your  lifa 
Long  may  that  inestimable  life  be  extended." 


2^4:  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

When  the  Queen  heard  of  her  lord's  life  being 
in  hazard,  she  started  up  and  said — "I  command 
you,  as  you  value  your  own  life,  unfold  all  those 
doubtful  speeches,  and  keep  nothing  secret  that 
concerns  the  life  of  my  royal  husband." 

"Know  then,"  says  the  doomed  one,  "my  dread 
Sovereign,  that  my  fjxther,  by  a  strange  accident, 
digging  in  the  ground,  found  a  great  mass  of  trea- 
sure, jewels  innumerable,  and  gold  beyond  calcu- 
lation, of  which  being  possessed,  he  grew  so  proud 
and  haughty,  that  he  held  all  the  beasts  of  the 
forest  in  scorn  and  derision.  At  last  he  despatched 
Malkin  the  Cat  to  the  forest  of  Arden,  where  Bruin 
the  Bear  sojourned  for  the  time  being,  and  tendered 
him  fealty  and  homage,  and  offered  to  place  the 
imperial  crown  on  his  head — desiring  him  to  come 
into  Flanders,  where  he  would  find  ways  and  means 
to  accomplish  his  traitorous  purpose.  Bruin  being 
excessively  ambitious,  and  having  long  thirsted  for 
sovereignty,  thereupon  came  to  the  place  of  rendez- 
vous, where  my  father  received  him  with  regal 
magnificence.  They  were  joined  by  Isegrim  the 
Wolf,  Malkin  the  Cat,  and  my  nephew  Grevincus 
the  Badger.  These  five  held  solemn  council  for 
the  space  of  a  whole  night ;  and  being  intoxicated 
by  my  father's  inexhaustible  wealth,  it  was  agreed 
that  your  Majesty  should  be  forthwith  murdered, 
and  Bruin  crowned  king,  with  immediate  posses- 
sion of  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities 
which  you  or  your  royal  predecessors  ever  enjoyed, 
together  with  a  complete  monopoly  of  all  the  honey 
found  in  the  various  bee-hives  in  the  kingdom  j 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  265 

and  if  any  of  your  blood  or  kin  gainsayed  them, 
that  assassins  should  be  hired  with  a  portion  of  my 
father's  treasure,  who  should  exterminate  them — 
root  and  branch — from  the  forest.     To  these  hor- 
rid and  treasonable  measures  each  and  all  of  them 
took  the  big  oath,  with  all  its  formalities,  to  make 
it  feel  the  more  solemn  and  binding.     Under  the 
influence  of  rich  old  champagne — a  wine  which  he 
had  never  been  accustomed  to — my  nephew  Gre- 
vincus  blabbed  the  secret  to  his  wife,  who,  in  great 
secrecy  told  the  matter  to  my  wife,  and  she  discov- 
ered it  to  me.     It  grieved  me  to  the  heart  to  think 
that  they  should  depose  my  own  j-ightful  Sover- 
eign, to  whom  I  had  sworn  allegiance,  and  elevate 
a  vulgar  clumsy  vulgarian  like  Bruin  to  the  impe- 
rial purple;  and  knowing  that  money  is  the  sinews 
of  treason  as  well  as  of  war,  I  became  desirous  of 
finding  out  my  father's  treasure,  and  by  constant 
watching,  both  by  night  and  day,  I  at  length,  to 
my  infinite  joy,  discovered  his  hoard,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  my  wife,  removed  it  to  a  place  more 
convenient  for  us,  where  we  laid  it  safe  from  the 
search  of  all  and  sundry. 

"When  my  unhappy  father  went  to  view  his 
treasures,  and  found  them  all  taken  away,  he  rent 
the  air  with  his  bowlings,  and  wandered  from  place 
to  place,  but  could  find  no  rest.  He  at  last  grew 
gloomy  and  morose,  and,  finding  his  misery  beyond 
endurance,  he  hanged  himself  It  is  meet  thak 
I  take  this  opportunity  to  remind  your  Majesty 
of  my  father's  services  as  court-physician  ;  an(] 
that,  soon  after  your  Majesty's  ascension  to  tha 


The  Stort  op  Reynard  the  Fox. 

throne,  havitrg  been  struck  down  by  a  grievona 
malady,  you  were  restored  to  health,  strength,  and 
the  functions  of  royalty,  by  the  medical  skill  and 
perseverance  of  him  who  is  now  no  more.  Thus 
have  I  defeated  Bruin's  treason — thus  have  I  cir- 
cumvented the  deep-dyed  traitor  Isegrim — and 
hence  all  my  misfortunes  have  accumulated  on  my 
devoted  head.  These  foul  conspirators  being  of 
your  Majesty's  privy  council,  and  having  your 
royal  name  constantly  in  their  mouths,  they  traduce 
me,  tread  on  me,  and  work  my  disgrace.  But  al- 
though I  have  lost  my  natural  father  for  your  sake, 
I  would  gladly  lay  down  my  own  life  also  for  you  ; 
but  I  detest  the  idea  of  dying  under  the  false  ac  • 
cusations  of  my  political  enemies.  'Tis  that,  and 
that  alone,  which  embitters  the  cup." 

Now  their  Majesties  felt  an  ardent  desire  to  pos- 
sess the  treasure ;  and  the  Queen  stepped  forward, 
and  whispered — "  Discover  where  this  immense 
wealth  is  concealed  ere  it  be  too  late ;  I  shall  inter- 
cede for  you  ;  his  Majesty  is  not  of  an  implacable 
nature ;  he  is  as  generous  as  he  is  brave.  Disclose 
the  secret,  and  trust  to  the  King's  clemency." 

"Why,  Madam,"  replied  Reynard,  "should  I 
give  this  enormous  treasure  to  one  who  has  con- 
demned me  ?  Your  Majesties  put  implicit  faith  in 
the  asseverations  of  my  enemies,  who  are  thieves 
and  murderers,  while  you  disbelieve  every  word  I 
say  in  defence." 

'*  Courage,  Reynard »  my  lord  shall  not  only 
forget  the  past,  but  sign  your  pardon  also ;  nay, 
more,  a  portion  of  the  riches  shall  be  reserced  for 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  267 

your  especial  use  and  benefit,  wliile  a  small  sum 
Bball  be  scattered  among  the  rabble,  in  order  to 
gain  you  popularity ;  and,  no  doubt,  I  will  retain 
Bomevvhat  for  my  own  private  use,  as  a  remunera- 
tion for  my  intercession." 

"  My  most  gracious  princess,"  says  the  accused, 
*'  if  the  King  will  vow  in  your  presence  that  I  have 
his  pardon,  he  shall  be  the  most  wealthy  sovereign 
of  the  age  in  which  he  lives !" 

"  Believe  not  the  arch  deceiver,"  said  the  King, 
"except  when  he  confesses  to  robbery,  murder, 
and  falsehood." 

The  Queen  put  on  one  of  her  most  fascinating 
smiles,  and  said, — "  No  doubt  Reynard's  past  life 
has  not  earned  for  him  either  our  regard  or  confi- 
dence ;  but  think  only  how  he  has  accused  his  owr/ 
father — to  me  that  sounds  very  like  sincerity  of 
purpose  ;  and  therefore  I  implore  your  Majesty  to 
extend  your  clemency  to  him  this  once." 

"  Well,  on  the  faith  of  your  sagacity,"  said  the 
King,  "  ril  pardon  him  ;  but  it  is  the  last  time,  so 
let  him  be  cautious  for  the  future." 

Kneeling  down,  his  eyes  glistening  with  pre- 
tended gratitude,  the  Fox  looked  upwards  to  their 
Majesties  and  exclaimed — "Imperishable  honour 
and  enduring  renown  be  yours !  your  goodness  I 
fihall  ever  confess.  Sooner  shall  envy  cease  to 
traduce  merit,  or  modesty  prevail  over  impudence 
— sooner  shall  sectaries  forget  their  hatred,  or 
misers  their  hoarded  treasure,  than  I  shall  forget 
your  Majesty's  royal  clemency — this  is,  indeed,  the 
brightest  jewel  in  your  imperial  crown.     Now  I 


268         The  Story  of  Beynard  the  Fox. 

will  tell  you  where  the  treasure  is  hid,  and  shall 
tell  nothing  but  the  truth : — 

"There  is  a  forest  in  Flanders  which  has  as 
yet  escaped  the  ravages  of  war.  Some  give  it 
one  name,  some  another — the  neighbours  call  it 
Hustelo.  A  rapid  river  runs  through  it,  which, 
from  its  springs  to  where  it  debouches  into  the  sea, 
glides  past  a  hundred  towns.  Here  the  larks  war- 
ble matins,  and  the  nightingales  sing  their  vesper 
songs.  An  enormous  oak,  which  has  stood  the 
shock  of  tempests  for  many  ages,  is  conspicuous 
above  all  the  trees  of  the  forest ;  at  its  root  flows 
a  fountain,  and  hard  by  is  a  deep  cavern.  That 
no  one  may  reveal  the  secret,  you  must  descend 
yourself  and  explore  it  in  person.  You  will  find 
an  imperial  crown,  worn  formerly  by  Emmeric. 
The  rebels,  who  so  successfully  abused  your  Ma- 
jesty's ear,  had  purchased  it  for  the  head  of  Bruin, 
when  you  should  either  be  decapitated  or  abdicate. 
There  are  also  hid  precious  pearls,  and  valuable 
jewels  for  his  dowdy  queen.  And  I  humbly  trust 
that  when  your  Majesty  is  in  undisputed  possession 
of  this  great  treasure,  you  will  not  forget  your 
loyal  slave,  who  has  impoverished  himself  and 
brought  his  father's  memory  to  infamy,  that  your 
Majesty  might  be  great,  glorious,  and  free." 

Whereunto  the  King  replied, — "  Reynard  I  If 
thou  art  sincere,  what  need  have  we  to  go  so  far 
ourselves?  'Tis  below  our  state  to  travel;  and 
moreover,  I  have  heard  of  Flerus  and  the  Meuse, 
of  Arden  and  Enghien,  of  Cologne,  Antwerp, 
Brussels,  Namur,  and  Mons,  but  never  of  Hustelo. 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  269 

In  wTiose  dominions  does  this  forest  grow?  In 
what  map  will  we  find  it  ?  Is  it  in  Eutopia  or  the 
country  of  Prester-John  ?  Ah,  Reynard,  I  know 
thou  lovest  a  lie  !  and  I  fear  this  is  one." 

"  It  grieves  me  to  the  heart's  core,"  says  Reynard, 
"  that  I  should  be  thought  capable  of  deceiving  my 
own  Sovereign.  Hustelo  is  in  Flanders,  which  I 
shall  prove  bj^  the  testimony  of  travellers  who  have 
been  in  the  locality.  With  your  Majesty's  gracious 
permission  I  shall  cite  the  Hare  as  an  unimpeacha- 
ble witness." 

The  heralds  call  on  Keyward  the  Hare,  who,  at 
the  summons,  trembled  in  every  limb ;  the  fear  of 
Reynard  fell  on  him,  and  he  confirmed  the  state- 
ment by  affirmation.  "  When  hinds  and  hounds 
pursued  me,  I  have  often  retreated  to  the  forest  of 
Hustelo,  I  think  they  call  it ;  and  there  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  a  profane  prince,  called  Sylvio,  hid  money 
there ;  and  the  story  goes  that  the  place  has  been 
haunted  ever  since.  This  is  vouched  for  by  the 
wicked ;  as  for  me,  I  dare  attest  no  nwre  than  that 
the  forest  is  there." 

"  Enough,"  replied  the  Sovereign.  "  We  shall 
depart  on  the  important  mission  to-morrow,  and 
you,  Reynard,  shall  point  out  the  spot ;  so  make 
preparation." 

"  I  know  of  no  higher  honour,  no  greater  distinc- 
tion, than  the  privilege  of  accompanying  you,  my 
beloved  Sovereign,  on  this  or  any  other  enterprise. 
No  higher  fortune  could  have  fallen  on  me ;  but, 
alas  I  Fortune  has  never  been  a  friend  to  me.  If 
I  had  been  in  a  condition  to  have  attended  on  your 


S70  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

Majesty,  then  poets  would  have  celebrated  my  name 
in  immortal  verse.  I  should  have  been  recorded 
in  history  as  the  companion  of  a  king,  and  unborn 
generations  would  have  sounded  my  praise.  But 
my  company  and  companionship  would  scandalize 
you/  Majesty.  I  am  under  the  ban  of  Rome,  and 
lie  under  the  sentence  of  the  greater  excommuni- 
cation. I  am  ashamed  of  the  fact,  but  I  must  con- 
fess it.  It  will,  I  trust,  be  another  link  in  the 
chain  of  evidence,  that  my  whole  testimony  is 
honest  and  candid.  Isegrim  took  it  into  his  silly 
head  to  become  a  friar ;  he  sported  the  cowl,  tied 
a  cord  around  his  waist,  went  through  all  the  stages 
of  discipline,  fed  on  monastic  fare,  such  as  herbs 
and  roots,  begged  from  door  to  door  even  for  that. 
I  became  vexed  to  see  his  bones  protruding  through 
his  hide,  and  aided  and  assisted  him  to  desert  the 
church  and  take  refuge  in  my  poor  domicile.  The 
rage  of  the  bishop  knew  no  bounds.  He  declared 
me  a  reprobate,  cursed  me  from  the  altar,  and  ac- 
cused me  of  heresy.  What  would  your  subjects 
say  if  they  saw  your  Majesty  holding  intercourse 
with  a  spiritual  outlaw.  Besides,  is  it  decent  to 
have  intimate  communication  with  a  newly  par- 
doned felon  ?  By  waiting  on  your  Majesty  on  the 
present  occasion,  I  should  rather  disgrace  you  than 
be  of  service  to  you.  My  name  would  reflect  on 
yours,  and  the  Flemings  would  make  a  jest  of 
yourself,  your  mission,  and  your  train.  No,  no ; 
I  must  cross  the  Alps,  make  my  appearance  before 
the  sovereign  pontiff,  propitiate  him  by  gold  and 
penitence,  purchase  large  quantities  of  indulgeices, 


The  Story  of  RErNARD  the  Fox.  271 

kiss  the  toe  of  St.  Peter's  successor,  and  obtain  ab- 
solution ;  and  when  I  return  with  a  newly  scoured 
conscience,  with  your  Majesty's  pardon  in  one 
pocket  and  the  Pope's  in  the  other,  my  fame  shall 
have  been  recovered  and  my  mind  at  peace,  and 
then  shall  I  follow  you  to  Flanders,  or  where  you 
please." 

The  King  approved  of  his  reasons,  and  ordered 
him  to  proceed  on  his  pilgrimage  forthwith ;  en- 
joining him  to  procure  the  counsel  of  some  piou3 
and  discreet  friend,  and  to  observe  fasting,  and  let 
his  future  life  atone  for  the  past.  A  throne  was 
erected  on  the  green,  to  which  the  King  and  his 
royal  consort  mounted.  Silence  was  declared,  on 
pain  of  forfeiture.  Not  the  least  murmur  was 
heard  through  the  crowd.  The  nobles  lay  dejected 
on  the  sward,  while  Reynard  is  preferred  to  a  dis- 
tinguished place.  Though  all  envy  the  distinction, 
none  dare  condemn  the  favour  that  advanced  him 
there.  His  Majesty  told  them  that  he  preferred 
lenity  to  severity.  "  If  the  laws  are  cruel  I  am 
not  so.  We  cherish  the  great  and  we  maintain  the 
poor.  All  have  relief  and  succour  in  this  court. 
Your  just  lights  shall  be  supported,  and  we  desire 
only  to  reign  in  your  hearts.  I  have  state  reasons 
for  striking  the  chains  off  Reynard.  Whom  I 
bound  I  can  loose ;  and  throughout  my  wide  em- 
pire I  declare  him  free,  and  whoever  wrongs  him 
injures  me." 

The  tidings  of  Reynard's  pardon  ran  through  the 
woods  with  great  rapidity;  having  so  suddenly 
grown    great    ir    his   master's  favour,   indicated 


272  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  For. 

darjger  to  the  persons  oi'  offices  of  certain  states- 
men, who  had  recently  hoped  to  feast  their  eyes, 
and  glut  their  vengeance  on  their  implacable  foe. 
A  general  discontent  crept  over  the  multitude; 
many  grew  jealous  at  his  rapid  elevation  in  court 
favour,  while  Isegrim  and  Bruin  were  almost  re- 
duced to  despair. 

Strapping  his  budget  on  his  back,  and  grasping 
his  pilgrim's  staff,  Keynard,  at  the  proper  time, 
commenced  his  journey,  making  pious  genuflexions, 
and  appearing  as  simple  as  a  new  made  novice. 
Many  were  the  farewells  he  uttered,  rendered  half 
inarticulate  by  sighs  and  sobbing.  He  was  attended 
in  his  pilgrimage  by  Bellin  the  Ram  as  domestic 
chaplain,  and  the  Rabbit,  who  had  pitied  him  very 
much  when  fortune  had  apparently  forsaken  him ; 
and  having  gathered  a  basket  of  delicious  fruit,  he 
brought  it  along  with  him,  to  be  presented  to  the 
pilgrim  at  their  first  halting-place ;  for  the  Rabbit 
being  rather  a  simple  youth,  and  well  disposed, 
was  highly  gratified  at  the  apparent  piety  of  Rey- 
nard, and  considered  it  his  duty  to  encourage  re- 
formation, not  only  in  his  sagacious  neighbour,  but 
also  in  all  carnivorous  animals — for  the  poor  Rabbit 
was  a  strict  vegetarian,  and  often  attempted  to  in- 
fuse a  taste  for  vegetables  among  his  associates. 
On  the  party  journeyed,  but  in  place  of  proceeding 
to  the  city  of  the  seven  hills,  the  leader  made  the 
best  of  his  way  to  his  fortalice  of  Malepartus. 

"  Bellin,  my  reverend  friend,"  says  the  pilgrim, 
*^ remain  outside  and  enjoy  the  sweet  grass;  I  will 
take  my  young  companion  in  with  me  to  console 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  .Fox.  273 

my  poor  wife,  for  the  tones  of  his  voice  are  mucu 
s-ofter  than  mine,  and  fitter  for  a  lady's  ear." 

So  the  poor  Rabbit  went  in  with  Reynard,  where 
he  found  Dame  Ermelin  sorrowing  in  a  dark 
chamber,  for  she  had  despaired  of  ever  beholding 
her  husband  again.  Seeing  him  enter  with  staff, 
scrip,  and  scallop  shell,  she  burst  into  a  frenzy  of 
joy,  and  said,  "  Reynard,  my  love,  how  has  it  gone 
with  you?" 

"  Ah  I"  he  said,  "  I  was  condemned  upon  false 
evidence,  but  the  King  extended  his  pardon.  I  left 
him  as  a  pilgrim,  and  Isegrim  and  Bruin  have  be- 
come bail  for  me.  His  Majesty  bestowed  the  Rabbit 
on  me  as  a  peace-ofifering ;  we  may  do  with  him  as 
best  suits  us,  for  the  King  told  me  at  parting  that 
it  was  he  who  betrayed  me." 

The  fear  of  death  descended  on  the  Rabbit,  and 
he  sought  to  escape ;  but  Reynard  stood  in  the 
doorway,  and  seized  him  by  the  neck.  Loud  were 
his  cries  for  help  from  Bellin :  "  I  am  undone  I 
The  pilgrim  murders  me."  But  he  did  not  cry 
long,  for  the  Fox  soon  bit  his  throat  asunder. 
"  Come  now,  and  let  us  dine  on  him, — 't  is  the  first 
time  the  simpleton  has  been  good  for  anything." 

It  was  thus  he  received  his  too  trusting  friend 
and  visitor. 

During  the  repast.  Dame  Ermelin  was  very  in- 
quisitive as  to  how  he  acquired  his  freedom ;  but 
Reynard  told  her  the  story  was  too  long  and  in- 
tricate for  recital  on  the  present  occasion.  "  This 
much  I  will  say,  however,  that  the  friendship  be- 
tween me  and  his  Majesty  will  be  of  short  duration. 


274  The  Story  of  Reyi  ard  the  Fox. 

When  lie  discovers  the  truth,  I  ha^e  no  more  mercy 
to  expect." 

Meanwhile  Bellin  cried  impatiently  on  the  Babbit 
to  come  forth,  whereupon  Eejnard  went  out  and 
Baid,  "  My  dear  sir,  my  young  friend  entreats  that 
you  will  pardon  him  ;  he  is  enjoying  the  society  of 
my  wife,  who  is  his  near  relation,  and  he  begs  that 
you  will  amuse  yourself  for  a  few  minutes  longer." 
Then,  said  Bellin,  "  I  heard  what  appeared  to  me 
to  be  cries  of  murder.  Have  you  done  any  mis- 
chief to  him?"  The  Fox  replied,  "  I  was  talking  of 
the  perils  of  my  pilgrimage,  at  which  my  wife  be- 
came so  alarmed  that  she  fainted.  This  frightened 
the  innocent  Eabbit,  and  he  screamed  for  help !" 
*'I  know,"  said  the  Ram,  "that  he  cried  as  in 
agony."  "  Not  a  hair  of  him  has  been  hurt,"  swore 
the  Fox.  "  Now  I  beg  you  will  lull  your  suspi- 
cions asleep,  and  listen  to  me  I  I  have  matters  of 
grave  importance  which  the  King  begged  me  to 
write  down  for  him.  I  have  just  finished  them, 
and  I  wish  to  entrust  you  with  these  letters.  They 
contain  prudent  counsel,  which  is  only  meant  to 
meet  the  royal  eye." 

"  Have  a  care  then,"  says  Bellin,  "  that  you  close 
them  well,  because  I  forgot  my  pocket-book,  and 
were  the  seals  to  break  it  might  get  me  into 
trouble." 

"  Leave  that  to'me.  There  is  a  scrip  m.ade  out 
of  Bruin's  hide,  it  is  thick  and  strong,  and  f^ill  just 
hold  the  packet.  You  will  be  honourably  rewarded, 
and  who  knows  what  you  may  yet  obtain  ?" 

The  Fox  hastened  back  into  the  house,  and 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.         275 

stuffed  the  poor  Eabbit's  head  into  the  scrip. 
"  Hang  the  scrip  round  your  neck,  and  be  careful 
not  to  pry  into  the  missives.  I  have  tied  it  with 
a  secret  knot,  known  only  to  the  King  and  my- 
self, so  that  if  you  open  it  you  will  be  assuredly 
found  out.  If  you  wish  to  secure  the  King's  especial 
favour,  you  may  tell  him,  when  you  come  into  the 
presence,  with  a  joyful  air,  that  you  have  brought 
a  valuable  packet,  and  that  you  helped  to  make  it 
up.  This,  I  think,  will  secure  you  the  favour  of 
our  gracious  master." 

The  Ram  was  overjoyed,  and  hastened  to  court 
at  the  top  of  his  speed.  When  the  King  saw  him 
enter  with  the  satchel,  he  exclaimed,  "  What  does 
all  this  mean  ?  Where  is  your  friend  the  Rabbit  ? 
Speak,  man !" 

"  Gracious  King,"  replied  Bellin,  *'  Reynard  bade 
me  carry  those  letters;  you  will  find  them  contain 
important  matters.  What  they  enclose  has  been 
put  in  by  my  advice ;  here  they  are ;  Reynard  tied 
the  knot.  It  was  not  for  me  to  pry  into  your  Ma- 
jesty's affairs." 

When  the  head  of  the  Rabbit  was  drawn  forth 
the  King  stood  aghast,  and  several  members  oi 
government  fainted.  Such  an  atrocity  was  unprtr 
cedented,  and  such  an  insult  was  not  to  be  borne. 
The  Monarch  was  convulsed  with  rage ;  he  mad*> 
his  throne  to  tremble  under  him,  and  in  the  whirl- 
wind of  his  passion  he  doomed  the  reverend  cha- 
plain to  the  rack  and  the  gibbet ;  and,  moreover, 
reflected  severely  on  his  own  conduct  in  being 
Bwayed  by  the  advice  of  the  Queen.    None  durst 


276  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

attempt  to  calm  liim  but  the  Pard,  who  had  a 
double  right,  being  president  of  the  council,  and 
also  the  Sovereign's  near  kinsman. 

"  If  passion  is  vile  in  a  slave,  consider  how  it 
becomes  a  King;  to  rave  and  threaten  is  beneath 
your  Majesty ;  you  know  the  murderer,  and  you 
bear  the  sword  of  justice.  Order  Bruin  and  Ise- 
grim  to  be  liberated  from  prison,  restore  order,  pun- 
ish Bellin  according  to  his  deserts,  for  he  openly 
and  impudently  confessed  that  he  advised  the  death 
of  the  Rabbit.  We  will  then  march  forth  against 
Keynard,  investigate  his  conduct,  probe  his  crimes, 
and  let  the  irresistible  arm  of  the  law  do  what  is 
fitting  and  proper  on  so  momentous  an  occasion. 
The  goods  and  chattels  of  Bellin  the  Ram  may  be 
confiscated,  and  gifted  over  to  the  widowed  Rabbit, 
while  Bruin  and  Isegrim  may  be  pensioned  as  a 
solatium  to  their  wounded  feelings,  and  harmony 
restored." 

"  Cousin,"  says  the  King,  "  I  like  your  counsel. 
Fetch  the  two  barons;  they  shall  sit  in  the  highest 
place  next  ourselves  ;  all  shall  do  homage  to  them ; 
and  as  an  atonement  to  those  gentlemen,  I  will 
give  up  Bellin  to  them  and  their  heirs  for  ever." 

The  Ram  was  executed ;  and  all  his  relations, 
and  all  his  posterity  are  hunted  by  the  race  of  Ise- 
grim to  this  day. 

High  wassail  and  rich  banqueting  were  held  at 
court  for  the  space  of  eight  days,  in  honour  of  the 
liberation  of  the  two  great  barons  Bruin  and  Ise- 
grim, while  Reynard  kept  within  his  stronghold. 
The  King  sat  at  the  table  beside  the  Queen, 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  271 

•And  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage  beli," 

When  the  Hare  came  before  them  bleeding,  and 
exclaiming — 

*'  Sire,  have  pity  on  me.  In  obedience  to  your 
Majesty's  proclamation,  I  hastened  to  court,  and, 
taking  the  nearest  way,  I  unhappily  came  near  the 
gate  of  Reynard's  castle.  There  he  sat  in  a  pil- 
grim's habit,  reading  what  appeared  to  me  to  be 
some  breviary  or  missal.  He  advanced  towards 
me  and  saluted  me  politely ;  but,  when  opportunity 
served,  he  seized  me  by  the  ears  with  such  violence, 
that  I  thought  my  head  was  off.  Fortunately  I 
made  a  sudden  spring,  and,  being  swift  of  foot,  es- 
caped the  fangs  of  the  felon,  but  left  one  of  my 
ears  behind  me.  See  how  I  bleed  !  Look  on  these 
four  holes  in  my  neck.  Sire,  who  can  travel  to 
your  court,  if  robbers  are  thus  suffered  to  waylay 
your  subjects?" 

Before  he  had  finished  his  complaint,  in  hopped 
Merkenau  the  Crow,  and  related  a  piteous  story, 
how  Reynard  shammed  dead  on  the  heath  one 
morning.  "  His  eyes  were  twisted  in  his  head,  and 
his  tongue  hung  out  of  his  open  mouth.  I  screamed 
again  and  again  in  order  to  ascertain  if  he  was 
really  dead ;  my  wafe  screamed  also,  but  nothing 
seemed  to  move  him ;  I  tapped  on  his  breast  and 
his  head,  my  wife  approached  near  to  his  chin,  to 
hear  if  he  breathed ;  but  no.  We  both  were  per- 
suaded that  he  was  quite  dead.  In  her  sorrow,  my 
poor  thoughtless  wife  put  her  bill  into  the  rascal's 
mouth,  and  in  one  moment  he  snapped  her  head 


278  The  Storf  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

off.  He  made  a  dart  at  me  also,  but  I  flew  up  and 
sat  on  a  tree.  I  saw  the  miscreant  devour  the  dear 
creature ;  and  when  he  was  gone,  I  looked,  and 
found  a  little  blood  and  feathers  only.  Have  com- 
passion on  your  loyal  subjects.  Sire ;  for  if  the 
traitor  escapes,  the  world  will  say  that  there  are 
neither  law  nor  justice  within  your  realm." 

No  sooner  had  the  two  complainants  laid  their 
grievances  before  the  throne,  than  the  Monarch 
took  an  oath  in  the  presence  of  his  two  nobles, 
Bruin  and  Isegrim,  that  he  would  destroy  Eey- 
nard's  family,  root  and  branch.  *'  My  wife  per- 
suaded me,  but  I  am  not  the  first  who  has  followed 
a  woman's  counsel  and  repented  of  it  afterwards. 
Decide  now,  my  loyal  barons,  how  this  culprit  may 
be  brought  to  judgment." 

The  two  barons  liked  the  tenor  of  the  royal 
speech,  but  dared  not  deliver  their  opinion,  because 
the  royal  temper  was  a  good  deal  ruffled ;  but  her 
Majesty,  knowing  her  influence  over  her  lord, 
said, — "Make  no  rash  promise,  especially  when 
your  Majesty  is  a  little  chafed.  Eeynard  has  not 
been  heard.  His  accusers  would  perhaps  be  silent 
were  he  here  to  explain  matters.  I  thought  Eey- 
nard prudent  and  sensible,  but  he  certainly  gives 
his  enemies  occasion  to  scandalize  his  name.  I 
may  have  been  in  error  about  him,  but  he  un- 
doubtedly is  clever  as  a  councillor,  and  his  connec- 
tions are  influential.  You  will  pot  make  things 
better  by  too  much  precipitation ;  and  moreover, 
you  are  master  here — with  a  code  of  just  laws  be» 


Thk  Story  of  Reynakd  teie  Fox.  2Yi 

fore  you,  which  should  be  administered  with  im- 
partiality and  due  deliberation." 

"  With  all  respect  and  affection,"  replied  hia 
Majesty,  "I  might  command,  but  I  entreat  you, 
our  Queen,  to  be  silent.  War  is  determined  on. 
His  house  shall  be  utterly  laid  waste,  and  his  name 
blotted  out.  So  let  our  nobles  and  their  retainers 
get  ready,  with  harness  on  their  backs,  together 
with  bows,  spears,  and  other  weapons.  We  will 
lay  siege  to  his  castle  of  Malepartus,  and  take  a 
survey  of  the  inside  thereof." 

"  Whereupon  the  assembly,  with  a  great  shout, 
agreed  to  his  Majesty's  proposal.  When  Grevin- 
cus,  his  cousin,  heard  that  evil  was  determined 
against  Keynard,  he  hastened  to  his  castle  to  com- 
municate the  fatal  information,  and  put  him  on  his 
guard.  When  he  nearly  reached  it,  he  found  the 
proscribed  retreating  homeward  with  two  unfledged 
doves  which  had  fallen  to  the  ground,  and  which 
the  gourmand  had  snapped  up,  for  he  was  remark- 
ably fond  of  fowl.  Having  seen  Grevincus  at  a 
distance,  he  ran  to  meet  him,  and  tendered  a  kindly 
welcome,  paying  him  all  manner  of  compliments. 
But  the  Badger,  with  unwonted  haughtiness,  de- 
sired him  to  desist  from  such  fulsome  and  unmean- 
ing stuff. 

"  Sir,  you  are  in  peril  I  You  have  brought  ruin 
on  yourself  and  your  house  by  your  fraudulent  ac. 
tions ;  you  have  provoked  the  king  beyond  all  en- 
durance ;  he  vows  to  extirpate  you  and  yours.  In 
six  days  you  will  behold  his  army  under  your 
walls,  led  by  Eield-Marshal  Isegrim ;  whil<  Bruin, 


280  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

who  is  again  taken  into  favour,  will  collect  such  a 
mass  of  evidence  against  you  as  will  quite  over- 
whelm you." 

"  K  that  be  all,"  says  the  Fox,  "  I  care  not  d 
rush.  Though  they  have  sworn  to  execute  me 
over  and  over  again,  you  see  I  have  still  escaped  j 
aye,  and  still  shall.  They  may  debate,  and  do  de 
bate ;  but  it  all  ends  in  smoke.  Come  in,  cousin, 
and  sup  with  me.  These  doves  are  young  and 
tender — they  require  little  mastication — their  bones 
are  sweet — they  melt  in  the  mouth — they  are  half 
blood,  half  milk.  Light  diet  suits  me,  and  my  wife 
is  of  the  same  opinion.  Come  in  then.  She  will 
be  delighted  to  see  you,  only  do  not  tell  her  what 
you  came  here  for.  The  merest  trifle  makes  her 
nervous.  To-morrow  I  shall  go  to  court  with  you, 
and  face  those  mighty  chiefs  whose  rage  I  shall 
laugh  at,  knowing  that  I  am  always  safe  in  their 
folly.  I  trust,  nevertheless,  that  you  will  give  me 
all  the  assistance  in  your  power,  like  a  good  kins- 
man." 

"  All  that  a  friend  or  brother  should  hazard  for 
you  will  I  do;  and  if  I  have  any  little  influence  in 
high  places,  it  is  very  much  at  your  service." 

The  Fox  conducted  the  Badger  into  his  house 
with  great  ceremony,  and  presented  him  to  Dame 
Ermelin  and  her  young  family  as  a  near  relation. 

The  lady  of  the  mansion  spread  the  board  with 
good  things;  the  two  tender  doves  were  not  for- 
gotten ;  each  partook  of  the  dainty  with  zest ;  and 
Grevincus  was  in  ecstasies  with  the  flavour  of 
everything.    When  the  cloth  had  been  removed, 


The  Story  of  Retnard  the  Fox.  281 

and  familiar  chit-chat  had  taken  place,  Eeyuard 
Baid  to  his  cousin  the  Badger, — 

"  How  do  you  like  my  family  ?  Do  you  not  ad- 
mire my  children  ?  My  eldest  son,  for  instance,  ia 
he  not  like  me  every  inch  ?  My  second  son,  too, 
a  strapping  little  fellow.  He  has  his  mother's  leer, 
and  he'll  be  the  wag  of  the  family.  The  rogues 
are  both  ripe  already.  They'll  filch  a  pullet  or 
nim  a  goose  with  the  most  practised  of  our  sept  • 
in  truth  they  are  fit  for  anything,  and  they  will  get 
on  in  the  world,  or  they  are  no  sons  of  mine.  I 
would  send  them  oftener  out  to  hunt,  but  I  must 
not  neglect  their  education.  They  have  to  be 
taught  prudence  and  foresight,  and  how  to  escape 
the  snare,  the  huntsman,  and  the  hound.  When 
they  have  finished  their  education,  they  shall  go 
out  into  the  world  and  labour  on  their  own  ac- 
counts. Already  they  bite  like  a  vice,  and  their 
leap  is  as  certain  as  the  return  of  an  unpaid  credi- 
tor." 

Grevincus,  like  a  sage,  laid  his  paws  upon  their 
noddles,  and  tendered  a  long  catalogue  of  good  ad- 
vices, much  easier  given  than  acted  up  to.  The 
night  waned  apace,  and  the  friends  retired  to  their 
respective  places  of  repose ;  but  in  place  of  sleep- 
ing, Reynard  fell  into  a  train  of  thinking,  and  slept 
none. 

Conscious  guilt  is  a  bad  soporific,  especially  on 
the  eve  of  appearing  before  one's  accusers  and 
judges ;  so  he  arose  from  his  uneasy  couch,  and 
Baid  to  his  wife — "I  am  invited  to  court  by  our 
cousin  Grevincus,  which  invitation  I  mean  to  com- 


282  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

ply  jvith.  Do  not  make  yourself  uneasy.  Stop 
quietly  at  home.  If  anybody  asks  for  me,  you 
know  what  to  say,  and  you  know  full  well  how  tc 
take  care  of  the  castle."  Dame  Ermelin  used  all 
her  eloquence,  and  practisad  all  her  blandishments, 
to  dissuade  her  lord  from  going  to  court.  Every 
argument  she  could  think  of  was  used  to  induce 
him  to  stay  at  home ;  but  all  to  no  purpose. 

"Be  calm,  I  entreat  you;  there  is  nothing  tc 
distress  yourself  about.  I  have  busmess  of  import- 
ance; and  in  five  or  six  days  you  will  see  me 
here  again." 

So  he  set  out  for  the  court,  together  with  Gre- 
vincus  the  Badger.  The  two  friends  scampered  to 
court  by  paths  only  known  to  themselves,  and,  to 
a  casual  observer,  they  seemed  to  be  in  high  glee. 
Guilt,  nevertheless,  was  pressing  on  the  mind  of 
the  Fox ;  and  he  could  not  help  feeling  misgivings 
as  to  his  ultimate  acquittal. 

"  I  have  abused  his  majesty^s  ear ;  I  have  slain 
his  faithful  servant ;  I  have  falsely  entrapped  Bel- 
lin,  and  had  him  unjustly  executed;  I  wounded 
the  Hare ;  I  put  the  Crow  to  death ;  and  what  I 
believe  will  tell  against  me  worst  of  all,  is  a  trick 
I  played  on  Isegrim.  One  day,  as  we  travelled 
over  a  flowery  meadow,  we  saw  a  beautiful  Colt 
sporting  by  the  side  of  its  dam,  and,  being  some- 
what anxious  for  a  tit-hit  for  dinner,  I  offered  to 
buy  the  Colt  of  its  mother,  and  asked  the  price 
The  Mare  replied  that  the  price  was  written  on  hei 
hoof,  and  that  it  was  ready  cash.  I  pretended  that 
I  was  no  great  scholar;  and  Isegrim  wishing  to 


Thk  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  283 

display  his  abilities,  put  his  spectacles  on  his  nose, 
and  pored  over  her  hoof,  as  if  he  had  been  em- 
ployed to  cut  her  corns.  Taking  advantage  of  the 
precise  moment,  the  lady  salutes  him  with  a  tre- 
mendous kick,  which  sent  him  spinning  breathless. 
His  snout  was  battered,  and  his  face  was  besmeared 
and  clotted  with  gore — in  one  word,  he  cut  a  piti' 
able  figure,  while  I  sat  on  the  park  wall,  and  jeered 
him  with  all  the  ironical  questions  which  occurred 
to  me.  He  raved,  and  roared,  and  threatened; 
while  I  was  thrilled  by  the  very  acme  of  enjoy- 
ment. There  now,  nephew,  I  have  made  confes- 
sion ;  teach  me  how  to  obtain  pardon." 

"  Ah !"  says  Grevincus,  "  you  are  laden  with 
fresh  sins.  They  follow  at  your  heels,  and  you 
have  no  time  to  escape  them,  for  I  fear  you  are 
near  your  end.  You  can  never  think  to  be  for- 
given for  the  death  of  the  Rabbit  and  the  Crow ; 
and  the  affront  you  have  put  on  the  noble  baron 
Isegrim  can  neither  be  forgotten  nor  forgiven. 
How  could  you  behave  so  rashly?" 

"  Pooh,"  said  Reynard,  "  one  has  to  make  one's 
way  in  the  world.  One  can't  behave  as  if  he  were 
in  a  monastery.  He  who  sells  honey,  licks  his 
fingers  now  and  then.  The  Rabbit's  fat  Httle  body 
tickled  me,  and  I  forgot  both  love  and  prudence. 
As  for  Bellin,  his  stupidity  gave  me  a  great  deal 
of  trouble ;  but  we  will  change  the  subject.  Were 
I  to  speak  my  mind  I  could  tell  you  who  are  rob- 
bers and  manslayers  of  the  first  order ;  but  I  know 
full  well  my  want  of  privilege,  and  therefore  shall 
be  silent." 


284  The  JStory  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

"  I  am  astonished,  uncle,"  said  the  Badger,  "  that 
you  should  confess  the  sins  of  other  people,  when 
you  have  so  many  of  your  own  to  think  of." 

So  they  came  near  the  court,  and  met  Martin  the 
Ape  travelling  out  as  a  pilgrim.  They  stopped 
by  the  way,  and  Reynard  had  some  confidential 
conversation  with  him.  Reynard  told  how  he  was 
persecuted  by  his  enemies,  and,  being  under  ban, 
was  yet  afraid  to  go  to  Rome,  and  leave  his  family 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bruin,  one  of  his  most  deadly 
foes.  The  Ape  enlightened  his  friend  Reynard 
upon  the  practice  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  hav- 
ing himself  great  interest  with  the  Pope,  promised 
to  get  the  Fox  his  absolution, — for  what  says  the 
couplet  made  by  his  Holiness'  laureate  ? 

'*  Pardons,  indulgences,  I  buy  and  sell, 
They're  good  commodities,  and  answer  well. 
With  mone}^,  3"ou  your  agent  must  supply, 
To  bribe  the  Court,  and  what  you  want  to  buy 
The  Pope  will  favour,  and  defend  you  here, 
Let  heretics  and  unbelievers  sneer." 

Reynard  thanked  his  frieiid  Martin  the  Ape  foT 
his  kindness,  and  proceeded  to  court  without  far- 
ther delay  with  his  kinsman  the  Badger.  Having 
again  arrived  at  court,  Reynard  knelt  before  his 
Sovereign ;  and  ascribing  honour  to  his  master  in 
the  most  courtly  style  of  language ;  nor  did  he  for- 
get to  pay  those  compliments  to  the  Queen  which 
was  most  agreeable  to  her  royal  husband's  ear,  and 
secretly  pleasing  to  herself.  The  courtiers  pressed 
round,  astonished  at  his  audacity;  but  the  King 
appeared  fierce  and  i:nplacable. 


The  Storv  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  2S5 

"Renowned  Monarch,"  said  Reynard,  "you  are 
crowned — not  with  the  imperial  diadem  only — but 
with  Valour,  Victory,  and  Justice.  Rewards  and 
punisJiments  are  alike  yours.  The  world  expectia 
that  you  should  reward  virtue  and  punish  vice. 
All  pretend  to  truth  and  honesty,  but  were  our 
crimes  written  on  our  foreheads,  Bruin  and  Isegrim 
would  not  sit  so  near  your  royal  person,  nor  loll 
upon  the  bench  while  I  am  trembling  at  the  bar. 
I  should  then  need  no  witnesses  to  prove  my  zeal 
and  devotion  to  the  person  and  government  of  my 
master.  But  I  must  check  myself;  I  can  have  no 
reason  to  fear  when  you  judge  my  cause." 

With  an  ingenious  eloquence,  he  explained  away 
the  non  performance  of  his  pilgrimage  ;  rebutted 
with  great  tact  and  talent  the  accusation  of  the 
Hare  ;  proved  to  the  secret  conviction  of  every  one 
that  the  Crow  had  made  a  false  accusation  against 
him,  and  not  only  so,  he  proved  that  the  Crow  had 
committed  the  murder  himself.  Keyward,  the 
Hare,  and  the  Crow,  then  left  the  court;  all 
shunned  a  war  of  words  with  such  an  accomplished 
orator;  and  Reynard  was  apparently  on  the  eve  of 
triumph,  when  the  King  arose  in  royal  ire,  terrific 
in  his  gestures  and  terrible  in  untamed  majesty — 
reminding  the  horror-struck  spectators  of  the  sub' 
lim3  quatrain  of  the  poet : — 

**  He  "waved  his  sceptre  north  away, 
The  Arctic  ring  was  rift  asunder; 
And  through  ihe  sky  the  startling  bray 
Burst  louder  than  the  Isudest  thunder.** — HoMk 


286  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

Here  the  favourite  nurse,  whose  untiring  atten- 
tion to  the  wants  and  weaknesses  of  majesty,  had 
entitled  her  to  the  high  privilege  of  being  seated  in 
the  royal  presence,  became  hysterical  with  sheer 
terror,  and  the  page  upon  her  lap  was  by  no  means 
insensible  to  the  probable  consequences  of  such  a 
paroxysm ;  and  having  rolled  himself  into  as  small 
a  space  as  possible,  laid  his  head  meekly  on  his 
paws,  like  an  Oriental  slave  previous  to  decapita- 
tion ;  while  the  moles  penetrated  into  their  deep 
est  fastnesses ;  and  the  crawling  worms,  with  all 
the  rapidity  of  which  they  were  capable,  trans- 
formed themselves  into  little  red  globules,  so  as  to 
be  mistaken  for  damaged  berries. 

Keynard  alone  retained  his  equanimity  in  the 
midst  of  the  hurricane,  trusting  to  his  unrivalled 
powers  of  persuasion.  The  Monarch  babbled  in- 
cessantly of  the  Rabbit's  Murder,  and  the  execution 
of  Bellin ;  but  extreme  passion  diverted  the  cur 
rent  of  his  thoughts  from  their  right  channel,  and 
choked  his  utterance;  whereupon  Reynard  inter- 
posed in  the  blandest  of  his  tones,  but  somewhat 
tremulous  for  the  sake  of  effect,  asked, — 

"  What  do  I  hear  ?  Is  the  Rabbit  dead,  and  is 
Bellin  no  more  ?  Alas !  I  have  lost  a  treasure 
with  them,  such  as  the  most  wealthy  Jews  have 
never  been  in  possession  of.  They  were  the  bear- 
ers to  you  of  gold  and  gems,  such  as  the  world  has 
seldom  seen.  Who  could  have  believed  that  Bellin 
would  have  murdered  the  Rabbit,  in  order  to  rob 
his  most  gracious  master  the  King?  Alasl  thii 
world  is  full  of  danger  and  deceit." 


The  Story  of  Reinard  the  Fox.         287 

The  King  did  not  listen  to  Reynard,  but  i!;tired 
to  his  private  chamber  in  very  bad  humour,  where 
the  Chamberlain  was  closeted  with  the  Ape's  wife, 
who  pleaded  hard  for  Reynard,  and  reminded  his 
Majesty  of  his  ability,  and  of  his  wise  decision  in  a 
certain  contest  between  a  countryman  and  a  ser- 
pent. The  King,  a  little  soothed,  returned  into  the 
judgment  hall,  still,  however,  threatening  the  Fox 
with  death  ;  while  Reynard  eloquently  regretted 
the  lost  gifts,  which,  if  he  were  free,  he  would  live 
only  to  recover.  He  proceeded  to  describe  the 
treasures  with  a  minuteness  that  had  all  the  ap- 
pearance of  truth,  and  with  an  air  of  sincerity  and 
candour : 

"  I  sent  your  Majesty  a  ring,  on  which  were  in- 
scribed mystic  letters,  which  only  Abryon,  the 
Jew  of  Treves,  could  read.  He  who  wore  it  could 
not  suffer  from  cold  or  hunger;  could  not  be  de- 
feated in  a  contest;  could  not  be  hated  by  a  be- 
holder; knew  no  darkness;  and  could  not  suffer 
by  water  or  fire.  There  was  a  comb  also,  with  a 
mirror,  intended  for  the  Queen,  the  wonders  of 
which  yet  surpassed  the  wonders  of  the  ring.  Pic- 
tures were  engraved  on  each."  Reynard  explained 
the  fables  appertaining  to  them.  He  reminded  the 
King  of  the  services  performed  by  his  father  as 
court  physician;  and  who  unhappily  committed 
Buicide  from  the  pangs  of  fell  remorse,  for  having 
for  a  moment  swerved  from  his  loyalty  to  hia 
Majesty  through  weakness  and  evil  companion- 
Bhip. 

"The  benefits  which  I  received  from  your  fathei 


Tub  Story  of  Keynard  the  Fox. 

are  of  such  an  ancient  date  that  I  forget  them ;  bu 
what  good  did  I  ever  receive  from  you  ?" 

*'  I  dare  not  bandy  words  with  my  royal  master, ** 
said  Keynard,  "  but  I  refer  your  Majesty  to  the  tes- 
timony of  your  own  heralds,  who  have  publicly 
recorded  many  things  honourable  to  my  loyalty, 
and  the  reverse  to  my  enemies.  It  would  look  like 
self-glorification  were  I  to  remind  your  Majesty  of 
what  I  have  done  for  you,  and  which  I  cannot  help 
believing  you  remember  fall  well." 

Eeynard  again  accused  Isegrim  of  dastardly  con- 
duct, and,  in  an  indignant  style  of  eloquence,  de- 
nounced him  as  a  coward  and  a  swindler,  who  was 
utterly  incapable  of  practising  honesty ;  and  that 
he  was  a  disgrace  to  the  assembly  in  which  he  sat, 
and  to  the  court  to  which  he  was  attached.  The 
Bear  was  also  characterised  as  a  devourer  of  the 
weak,  an  insulter  of  the  people,  and  an  abuser  of 
the  royal  power;  and  lastly,  with  a  loud  voice  and 
lofty  bearing,  he  defied  his  accusers  to  mortal  com- 
bat,— casting  such  a  look  on  the  Wolf  as  could 
neither  be  mistaken  by  the  court  or  the  challenged. 

The  King  was  secretly  overjoyed  with  Reynard's 
proposal,  and  instantly  secured  bail  for  the  appear- 
ance of  the  combatants;  and  ordered  the  lists  to  be 
prepared  for  the  judicial  duel.  Daring  the  night, 
Beynard's  friends  did  all  in  their  power  to  prepare 
him  for  the  combat.  Dame  Ruckenan  the  Ape, 
who  had  considerable  experience  in  such  matters, 
exhorted  him  to  go  fasting  to  the  field,  and  to  use 
the  utmost  strategy  when  engaged  with  his  antago- 
nist. 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  289 

**  'Tis  not  always  strength  that  either  obtains  or 
secures  victory,  and  therefore  you  should  lose  no  ad- 
vantage. Let  Grevincus,  your  relative,  shave  your 
body  all  over,  except  the  continuation  of  the  spine; 
then  have  yourself  anointed  with  a  quantity  of 
palm  oil  which  I  shall  send  you.  Run  round  and 
round  the  lists  until  your  enemy's  heart  palpitates, 
and  his  breathing  grows  difficult.  You  will  see  a 
small  pool  of  water  on  the  east  side  of  the  lists 
oozing  from  a  brooklet,  and  thickened  with  dust. 
Immerse  your  brush  there  as  you  pass,  and  dash 
it  in  the  eyes  of  your  opponent.  Do  this  several 
times  ere  you  come  to  close  quarters  with  him; 
then,  when  he  is  endeavouring  to  clear  his  optics; 
seize  him  by  the  throat,  and,  if  possible,  throw  him 
to  the  ground.  The  ladies  are  wholly  on  your 
side,  and  when  you  have  the  semblance  of  an  ad- 
vantage, we  will  wave  our  handkerchiefs  and  cheer. 
This  will  not  only  encourage  you,  but  it  will  de* 
press  the  spirits  of  your  adversary." 

The  sinking  hopes  of  the  champion  now  revived; 
and  he  attended  minutely  to  the  good  counsel  he 
had  received,  except  in  the  matter  of  going  to  the 
field  *' fasting;"  for  an  unfortunate  goose,  happen- 
ing to  cross  his  path  that  eventful  morning,  never 
returned  to  the  pond  of  her  nativity;  and  Reynard, 
having  wiped  his  lips,  wended  his  way  to  the  lists, 
surrounded  by  his  kinsmen  and  alhes. 

Not  only  was  he  shaved  and  annointed  agreea- 
bly to  instruction,  but  his  joints  were  lubricated 
With  a  peculiar  kind  of  ointment;  he  was,  more- 
over perfumed  with  balm  and  other  essences.   Hit 


290  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox 

Majesty  was  highly  delighted  to  see  him  so  spruce, 
and  laughed  immoderately  when  he  inspected  hii 
smooth  well-oiled  body. 

"Go,  Reynard;  glory  or  justice,  or  both,  call 
thee  to  the  lists.  It  is  meet  that  thou  shouldst  de- 
fend thy  fair  fame  at  the  hazard  of  thy  life ;  for  to 
be  infamous  is  not  to  live,  but  to  drag  out  a  miser* 
able  existence." 

Lowly  bowed  the  champion  to  his  master,  and 
eloquent  were  the  thanks  which  he  tendered  him , 
and,  looking  up  with  one  of  his  blandest  smiles, 
he  bowed  to  the  ground  before  her  Majesty,  and 
entered  within  the  enclosed  ground,  declaring,  that 
if  he  should  prove  dastardly  enough  to  fly  from  his 
antagonist  in  her  royal  presence,  that  he  deserved 
to  be  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered.  While  the 
whole  assembly  anxiously  and  painfully  awaited 
the  onset,  the  trumpet  sounded,  and  the  Wolf  came 
roaring  on  the  Fox,  fierce  as  the  angry  Caspian 
when  agitated  by  mountain  blast ;  but  Reynard,  in 
place  of  grappling  with  his  mortal  enemy,  ran 
against  the  wind  and  scraped  up  dust  into  his  pur- 
suer's eyes.  Occasionally  he  dipped  his  brush  into 
the  small  pool  of  water,  which  had  been  secretly 
deepened  a  little,  and  dashed  it  with  unerring  aim 
full  in  the  two  glaring  orbs  of  his  foe.  Again  and 
again,  like  a  skilful  tactician,  he  practised  this 
mode  of  desultory  warfare,  until  Isegrim  became 
almost  blinded;  and,  to  add  to  his  disasters,  one 
of  his  eyes  was  almost  torn  from  the  socket  by  a 
random  blow  from  the  fore-foot  of  Reynard  as  ho 
whisked  round  him.    Long  and  arduous  was  the 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  291 

conflict;  and  the  Fox,  believing  he  would  soon  be 
master  of  the  field,  began  to  shout  after  the  man- 
ner of  ancient  heroes,  to  shame  his  adversary,  and 
to  exult  in  anticipated  victory.  But  Isegrim,  in  a 
state  of  mind  bordering  on  despair,  and  regardless 
of  laceration  and  pain,  put  forth  all  his  strength, 
and  by  one  fortunate  effort  laid  his  foe  prostrate, 
and  caught  one  of  his  fore-feet  between  his  teeth, 
which  he  held  with  all  the  tenacity  of  a  double 
screw. 

"  Yield  thee,  thou  dastard  I"  muttered  the  "Wolf 
through  his  throat. 

Eeynard  became  completely  paralysed  with  ter- 
ror ;  his  last  shadow  of  hope  had  evaporated  like 
mist  before  the  noonday  sun.  Like  a  craven  he 
begged  for  his  worthless  life.  He  shed  a  flood  of 
tears ;  he  implored  pity ;  he  confessed  himself  an 
unhappy  wretch;  promised  to  proclaim  Isegrim 
the  victor  wherever  he  went ;  that  he  would  be  his 
slave  for  ever ;  and  that  he  would  fetch  his  family 
to  kneel  before  him,  in  token  of  the  most  abject 
submission.  Moreover,  he  promised  to  become  the 
"Wolf's  purveyor.  All  ducks,  geese,  hens,  or  fishes, 
which  he  might  hereafter  catch,  should  be  placed 
at  the  victor's  disposal ;  and  his  chivalrous  bearing 
should  ever  thereafter  be  the  theme  of  songs,  more 
during  than  brass  or  adamant. 

"No!"  says  Sir  Isegrim;  "thou  shalt  cheat  no 
more  I  I'll  rid  the  world  of  a  flatterer  and  a  thief. 
The  ravens  and  the  crows  shall  behold  thy  bones 
whitening  the  common,  or  thrown  into  the  river.'* 

"Whereupon  Reynard,  thinking  it  was  all  ovef 


292  The  Story  of  Reyi^ard  the  Fox. 

with  him,  renewed  the  attack,  struggled  desperately 
and,  by  a  lucky  movement,  clenched  his  fangs  in 
the  Wolf's  throat.  Isegrim  shrieked  with  open 
mouth,  and  Reynard  drew  out  his  foot,  and  with 
his  two  paws  he  nearly  deprived  him  of  his  skin. 
They  rolled  together  in  a  pool  of  blood,  into  which, 
ever  and  anon,  the  Fox  saturated  his  brush,  and 
did  tremendous  havoc  thereby  on  the  enemy.  La- 
cerated, crippled,  and  blind,  Sir  Isegrim's  friends 
implored  the  Monarch  to  put  an  end  to  the  combat. 

The  heralds  accordingly  received  the  royal  man- 
date; the  conflict  was  ended,  and  Reynard  pro- 
claimed victorious ;  whereupon  the  whole  assembly 
rent  the  air  with  shouts  of  acclamation.  The  entire 
monarchy  was  agitated,  from  its  depth  to  its  surface, 
by  a  turbulent  concurrence  with  the  royal  decision ; 
and  golden  opinions  were  uttered  relative  to  the 
dignity  and  urbanity,  as  well  as  the  justice,  of  the 
Sovereign. 

Grumble  the  Ass,  although  bred  to  the  bar,  had, 
like  many  of  his  relations,  a  strong  propensity  for 
verse-making;  and  accordingly  he  struck  off  an 
extemporaneous  ode  for  the  occasion,  which  was 
set  to  music  with  equal  rapidity  by  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  Gallus  the  Cock,  doctor  of  music,  and 
sung  by  all  and  sundry  who  hoped  for  court 
favour. 

Once  more  the  Monarch  of  the  Woods  command- 
ed silence,  and  selected  the  Leopard  as  his  repre- 
sentative, who  uttered  his  royal  master's  will  in 
Borae  such  terms  as  follow ; — 

"Victorious  Reynard!  I  bring  a  laurel  wreath 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  293 

from  my  august  Sovereign,  to  be  placed  upon  youi 
brow  as  a  symbol  of  conquest.  He  decrees  a  tri- 
umph in  your  honour." 

"  I  have  compelled  the  foe  to  yield,"  said  Rey 
nard ;  "  the  disputed  field  is  mine.  I  have  added 
VICTOR  to  my  family  name ;  I  have  earned  undying 
glory  to  myself  by  clearing  my  injured  fame ;  there- 
fore, in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  ray  gracious 
and  redoubted  Sovereign,  let  what  is  past  be  for- 
gotten; let  none  hereafter  insultingly  name  him 
who  was  overcome ;  let  Sir  Isegriin  be  restored  to 
the  favour  of  his  Sovereign.  Generous  victors  do 
not  conquer  to  insult  the  proud,  but  to  tame  them." 

A  thousand  friends,  whose  names  he  had  never 
heard  of  before,  now  thronged  round  him  with  ful- 
some congratulations.  Even  those  who  voted  for 
his  condemnation  oflTei'ed  him  a  largess  of  plate,  and 
tendered  their  political  support.  But  neither  beast 
of  the  field  nor  fowl  of  the  air  was  half  so  obsequi- 
ous as  Grumble  the  Ass,  and  poet;  who,  kneeling 
at  Reynard's  feet,  supplicated  the  high  honour  of 
carrying  him  to  court  on  his  back,  which  humble 
request  being  complied  with,  the  bard  pricked  up 
bis  ears  to  an  unusual  length,  looked  with  contempt 
on  the  undistinguished  mob  around  him,  and 
laboured  under  the  hallucination  that  he  possessed 
more  wisdom  than  Rajah  the  Elephant,  and  was  a 
greater  proficient  in  music  than  Cloudlet  the  Lark 
or  Amoret  the  Nightingale. 

Preliminaries  being  adjusted,  a  regular  procession 
was  formed,  and  to  court  they  marched,  through 
lanes  of  troops  in  new  uniforms,  passing  occasion 


294  TiiE  SiOKr  OF  Keynard  the  Fox. 

ally  beneath  triumphal  arches,  adorned  by  wreatha 
and  chaplets;  while  the  joyous  inmates  of  the 
public  seminaries  strewed  the  path  with  fiowera. 
and  repeated  quatrains  from  G-rumble^s  ode.  Nor 
were  the  fascinations  of  music  forgotten.  Eajah 
the  Elephant,  as  bandmaster,  struck  up  a  Hindoo 
air,  which  had  originally  been  composed  in  honour 
of  Bramah,  and  had  been  a  "march"  in  the  Rajah's 
family  for  many  hundred  years ;  and  he  had  j  adi 
ciously  selected  Trickster  the  Monkey,  a  country 
man  of  his  own,  and  placed  him  on  his  shoulders, 
because  he  was  conversant  both  with  the  instrument 
and  the  music.  Poodle,  a  third  cousin  of  Springer 
the  Hound,  thundered  on  the  big  drum,  which 
happily  drowned  the  discord  elicited  by  Jackoo  the 
Baboon  from  an  old  cracked  banjee  or  violin  with 
his  sinister  arm,  while  the  tambourine  passed  from 
hand  to  hand  as  an  instrument  which  required  little 
previous  practice. 

One  ludicrous  incident  occurred  however,  which 
it  may  be  as  well  to  explain.  Grunter  the  Hog 
had  been  appointed  standard-bearer,  but  he  became 
so  bewildered  with  the  magnificence  of  the  solemn 
train,  and  the  elevated  part  therein  assigned  him, 
that  he  stupidly  attached  the  wrong  end  of  his 
broad  pennant  to  the  staff.  His  enemies,  hov/ever, 
scruple  not  to  say,  that  he  had  been  indulging  in 
strong  grains  that  morning.  This  piece  of  court 
Bcandal,  however,  may  or  may  not  be  true ;  certain 
it  is,  that  the  mistake  was  committed. 

On  rolled  the  excited  throng  toward  the  royal 
residence,  accumulating  in  its  progress  like  som« 


The  Story  of  Revvard  the  For  295 

mighty  river  in  its  transition  to  the  ocean.  The 
hills  and  valleys  rung  with  lo  Pa»ans,  and  the 
streets  of  the  metropolis  echoed  to  the  exhilara- 
ting notes  of  the  music,  and  the  lusty  cheers  of 
the  crowd.  On  approaching  the  royal  presence, 
the  observed  of  all  observers  bowed  to  his  peers, 
but  knelt  to  the  Monarch,  who  graciously  raised 
him  from  the  ground,  and  after  a  brief  speech, 
which  monarchs  sometimes  find  it  necessary  to 
make  for  the  sake  of  being  thought  courteous,  he 
concluded  by  quoting  a  piece  of  Grumble's  doggerel, 
who  was  already  smacking  his  lips  in  anticipation 
of  the  butt  of  sack — 

Your  woes  are  righted,  give  the  Wolf  your  hand, 
I  bade  the  war  and  now  the  peace  command. 

"  Your  Majesty's  will,"  said  Reynard,  "  has  ever 
been  the  rule  of  my  life.  To  accomplish  your 
desires  I  have  struggled  through  good  and  bad 
report.  Your  royal  ear  has  often  been  poisoned, 
but  your  princely  discrimination  has  as  frequently 
repelled  its  virulence.  I  know  of  no  greater  luxury 
than  to  live  and  die  in  your  Majesty's  service.  I 
appeal  to  my  honourable  antagonist  if  I  did  aught 
to  heighten  his  despair  during  the  conflict;  and 
now  that  it  is  over,  I  deeply  grieve  to  see  his  pre- 
tended friends  basely  desert  their  patron  ;  but  it 
will  ever  be  thus.  When  wealth,  or  royal  favour 
— which  is  better — set  in  on  you,  like  the  fertilizing 
waters  of  the  Nile,  friends  will  accumulate,  and  flat- 
tery resound  through  your  hall ;  let  riches  and  ia- 


296  The  Story  of  Eeynard  the  Fox. 

fluence  depart,  and  your  fawning  wlieedlers  will 
follow." 

Seated  on  his  throne,  in  the  midst  of  his  senate, 
the  Monarch  of  Beasts  and  Birds  addressed  him 
thus : 

"  My  lords  and  gentlemen,  we  have  listened  to 
all  your  complaints — have  taken  them  into  our 
serious  consideration.  We  shall  grant  remedy  to 
those  who  may  have  been  injured,  and  dismiss  those 
statements  that  appear  frivolous.  Meanwhile,  it  is 
our  will  and  pleasure  to  redress  the  wrongs  of  our 
faithful  liegeman  Eeynard,  and  reward  his  worth. 
His  wisdom,  experience,  and  zeal,  deserve  our  fav- 
our, and  we  have  determined  to  strengthen  our 
government  by  his  vast  political  knowledge,  his 
high  legal  experience,  and  that  personal  influence 
which  genius  alone  can  exercise  over  the  masses. 
We  commission  him  to  perform  the  onerous  duties 
of  Lord  High  Chancellor,  to  be  the  keeper  of  our 
royal  conscience,  and  to  utter  those  decisions  in 
equity,  from  which  there  is  no  appeal.  As  our 
highest  legal  functionary,  we  will  hear  no  murmur- 
ing at  the  conclusions  he  arrives  at,  and  wherever 
he  sits,  you.  are  to  believe  the  King  is  there.  He 
shall  receive  embassies  in  our  name,  with  power  to 
treat  and  to  conclude,  and  we  command  all  our 
loving  subjects  to  obey  him,  as  they  hope  for  our 
favour.  He  is  no  bigot,  no  lazy  thoughtless  drone 
— a  burthen  to  himself  and  his  colleagues  in  the 
cabinet;  he  is  active  and  eloquent,  ever  on  the 
alert;  his  judgment  is  not  to  be  biassed,  even  by 
oui  own  royal  will ;  neither  power  nor  party  'nter- 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  297 

est  will  tempt  him  from  the  path  of  rectitude ;  he'il 
fear  no  faction,  and  he'll  accept  no  bribes.  Such 
is  the  person  which  we  have  elevated  to  the  highest 
post  in  our  realm — 'tis  yours  to  obey." 

The  members  of  senate  were  struck  dumb  with 
astonishment;  they  glared  upon  each  other  with 
amazement ;  but  opposition  to  the  royal  will  would 
have  brought  on  confiscation,  banishment,  or  even 
death,  to  any  daring  individual  possessed  of  the 
temerity  ;  so  all  were  silent,  which  his  Majesty  con- 
strued into  loyalty  and  acquiescence.  Painfully 
anxious  to  return  to  his  castle  of  Malepartus,  where 
Dame  Ermelin  was  suffering  the  sorrow  of  uncer- 
tainty in  a  darkened  chamber,  Reynard  humbly 
solicited  the  royal  permission  to  revisit  his  despond- 
ing spouse  for  a  short  space.  The  request  was 
granted  on  condition  that  he  should  return  to  court 
with  all  convenient  speed;  for  his  presence  and 
oracular  wisdom  had  become  almost  necessary  to 
the  royal  pair.  Being  so  overwhelmed  by  regal 
grace,  he  scarcely  wist  what  to  say ;  but  kneeling 
to  the  throne,  and  kissing  the  feet  of  the  beauteous 
Queen,  he  said — 

*'  I  bend  with  awe  before  your  imperial  Majesty, 
and  also  before  you,  the  fairest  Queen  the  sun  ever 
shone  upon.  Long  may  you  reign  in  the  hearts  of 
your  subjects.  Under  your  beneficent  auspices  may 
the  age  of  iron  depart,  and  the  age  of  gold  return^ 
May  you  live,  not  only  in  plenty,  but  in  peace ; 
and  may  you  not  only  prove  a  blessing  to  your  own 
subjects,  but  to  the  era  in  which  you  flourish." 

So,  laden  with  royal  presents,  he  departed  for 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

Malepartus,  accompanied  by  a  numerous  train  of 
friends,  suitors,  and  time-servers,  who,  from  mo- 
tives of  self-interest,  fluttered  round  the  new  made 
Chancellor,  as  winged  moths  do  round  a  lighted 
candle. 

Beguiling  the  way  with  "diverting  talk,"  Rey- 
nard remarked — "  You  see  our  mighty  foes,  al- 
though impelled  by  envy  and  malice,  could  not 
prevail  against  me ;  we  must  forget  past  peril  and 
past  disgraces ;  the  times  are  changing  for  tlie  bet- 
ter. Our  royal  master  is  bountiful,  generous  and 
good;  he  prefers  blunt,  unassuming  honesty,  to 
clever  chicanery ;  and,  what  is  more  uncommon 
still,  he  prefers  wisdom  to  gold." 

When  the  towers  of  his  residence  burst  on  his 
view,  he  halted  for  a  little,  and  flattered  his  satel- 
lites, buoyed  up  their  hopes  as  to  their  future  for- 
tunes through  his  patronage,  retained  a  chosen  few 
as  his  companions,  to  swell  his  triumph  when  he 
should  appear  in  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  fam- 
ily, and  bowed  an  obsequious  farewell  to  the  resi 
due,  although  he  despised  them  in  his  heart 
Rumour,  with  her  thousand  tongues,  had  already 
proclaimed  to  the  world  the  altered  circumstances 
of  hitn  who  was  recently  arraigned  in  the  high 
court  of  justice,  as  a  felon,  for  great  crimes  and 
treasonable  practices. 

llis  trembling  consort  could  hardly  trust  the  tes- 
timon}^  of  her  eyes,  when  he  sprung  to  her  em- 
brace. Her  articulation  was  restored  after  she  had 
shed  a  flood  of  tears,  and  she  welcomed  him  joy- 
frlly.     His  sons  were  transported  with  happiness, 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  299 

end  his  very  servants  exulted  with  pride  to  see 
their  venerated  master  once  more.  After  mutual 
felicitations,  he  gave  a  modest  narrative  of  the 
challenge,  the  duel,  the  victory,  and  the  favourable 
change  in  the  royal  mind  regarding  him. 

"  I  am  now  honoured  with  the  highest  position 
which  a  subject  may  hold;  my  friends  are  in  ec- 
stacies  at  my  elevation ;  my  enemies  depressed  and 
despondent.  But  albeit  I  have  them  in  my  power, 
I  shall  not  blight  the  verdure  of  my  laurels  by 
crushing  them  precipitantl}^,  nor  provide  for  my 
friends  too  hastily ;  my  opinions,  nevertheless,  are 
beyond  control,  and  my  power  absolute.  Moreo- 
ver, the  King,  my  master,  as  the  climax  of  his 
powers,  tendered  me  the  Great  Seal  with  his  own 
hand; 

Bade  me  enjoy  it  with  the  place  and  lionours, 
During  my  life,  and  to  confirm  his  goodness, 
Tied  it  by  letters  patent ; 

so  that  I  may  truly  say  in  the  language  of  another 
great  personage,  'I  am  the  state.' " 

After  having  recruited  his  health,  feasted  his  re- 
tainers, and  gleaned  golden  opinions  from  his 
neighbours  and  dependants,  he  repaired  to  the  me- 
tropolis, entered  his  court,  mounted  the  bench,  and 
awarded  such  decisions  as  if  he  had  been  an  em- 
bodiment of  Truth,  with  Justice  and  Equity  for  his 
assessors. 

But  the  novelty  of  acting  justly  and  honourably 
wore  off — the  glare  of  popularity  ceased  to  dazzle 
him.     A  compound  of  avarice,  fraud,  and  cunning, 


300  The  Sto^y  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

his  judicial  conduct  had  been  a  piece  of  acting ;  and 
his  determinations  gave  him  pain  in  proportion  as 
these  approximated  to  truth  and  righteousness. 

"  Whj  should  I  injure  my  health,  and  waste  my 
intellect,  like  a  small  pettifogger  in  the  courts  be- 
low, for  a  poor  limited  remuneration  ?  If  my  po- 
sition is  lofty,  my  expenses  correspond  therewith ; 
and  if  I  am  the  second  in  the  monarchy,  why 
should  not  my  revenue  be  second  only  to  that  of 
the  monarch  himself?  Besides,  I  am  ambitious  of 
becoming  the  founder  of  a  family,  and  of  transmit- 
ting, not  only  my  name  and  honours,  but  also  some- 
thing of  a  more  tangible  nature  to  my  descendants; 
and  I  must  make  hay  while  the  sun  shines." 

Such  were  the  cogitations  of  the  rapacious  CLan- 
cellor  as  he  twirled  his  paws  or  stroked  his  beard 
in  his  own  court,  while  he  pretended  to  give  his 
most  attentive  consideration  to  the  pleadings  of  the 
barristers  in  Chancery,  and  endeavoured  to  pass 
for  an  oracle  of  wisdom,  and  a  prodigy  of  legal  in- 
tegrity. It  is  said,  that  "  a  cralty  knave  needs  no 
broker :"  it  may  be  true  in  ordinary  cases,  but  such 
was  the  depravity  of  this  mushroom  Chancellor's 
nature — such  was  his  vehement  desire  for  the  accu- 
mulation of  filthy  lucre — such  his  insatiable  crav- 
ing for  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that,  like 
the  horse-leech,  he  sucked  the  blood  alike  of  pur- 
suer and  defendant,  rich  and  poor,  as  opportunities 
presented  themselves.  Nay,  not  content  with  this 
abominable  procedure,  his  hired  emissaries  beset 
those  who  resorted  to  his  court,  together  with  their 
kith,  kin,  and  allies.    Throughout  the  various  pro 


The  Story   of  Reynard  the  Fox.  301 

rincea  of  the  kingdom,  fraud  and  extortion  were 
the  order  of  the  day.  Decisions  in  Chancery  were 
known  to  be  marketable  commodities,  and  the 
whole  department  voted  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 

Sir  Isegrim  the  Wolf  drew  up  a  memorial  on  the 
subject,  largely  and  influentially  subscribed,  and 
presented  it  to  the  King,  entreating  his  Majesty  to 
remove  the  arch-offender  from  his  high  oliice. 

Grumble  the  Ass — who  had  failed  in  obtaining 
the  laurel — fired  off  paper  pellets  at  the  head  of  the 
wicked  and  fraudulent  ofl&cial,  in  shape  of  dull  pas- 
quinades and  pointless  epigrams,  together  with  a 
satirical  lyric,  which  obtained  some  popularity,  not 
from  its  own  merits,  but  from  the  beautiful  air  to 
which  it  was  set  by  Dr.  Gallus. 

Eajah  the  Elephant  amused  the  lieges  by  playing 
the  significant  air,  entitled  "  The  Highway  to  New- 
gate," and  Poodle,  the  third  cousin  of  Springer  the 
Hound,  beat  the  "  Eogue's  March"  every  evening 
at  sunset — the  import  of  which  w^s  well  known  to 
all  within  hearing.  Grunter  the  Hog,  who  had 
previously  acted  as  standard-bearer,  defaced  the 
hated  name  from  his  pennon,  and  bartered  it — staff 
and  all — with  Jackoo  the  Baboon,  who  conducted 
a  brewery,  for  a  bushel  of  his  strongest  grains. 
Even  Malkin  the  Cat,  who  never  either  forgot  or 
forgave  her  laceration,  bequeathed  her  skin  to  the 
author  of  the  best  essay  on  "  Tyranny  under  colour 
cf  Equity." 

Society  was  fast  verging  towards  anarchy,  and 
various  constitution-makers  had  begun  to  labour  in 
their  vocation,  when  happily  the  King  took  the 


302  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

alarm,  and  made  minute  and  laborious  investigation 
into  the  alleged  malversations  of  his  Chancellor. 
The  result  v/as,  that  he  revoked  his  letters  patent, 
deprived  him  of  the  Great  Seal,  and  determined 
once  more  to  have  him  impeached  and  tried  before 
his  peers  as  a  great  state  criminal — 

-"  He  is  attack'd, 


Call  him  to  present  trial.     If  he  may 
Find  mercy  in  the  law,  'tis  his;  if  none, 
Let  him  not  seek't  of  us." 

Meanwhile  the  sleepless  vigilance  which  had 
hitherto  characterised  the  degraded  ex-official  had 
not  diminished.  His  eyes  were  open  to  every 
movement,  his  ears  to  every  whisper.  His  emissa- 
ries were  to  be  found  everywhere ;  but  the  more 
information  which  they  collected  the  darker  grew 
the  page  on  which  it  was  written,  while  his  un- 
rivalled sagacity  assured  him  that  he  could  hope 
for  no  clemency,  except  the  axe  and  the  block,  as 
substitutes  for  the  more  vulgar  halter  and  gibbet. 

"  His  high -blown  pride  at  length  broke  under  him," 

and,  accordingly,  he  concerted  secret  measures 
with  his  cousin  Grevincus  the  Badger,  for  depriv- 
ing an  ungrateful  community  of  his  eminent  ser- 
vices, or,  in  other  words,  for  absconding  like  a  felon 
from  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  an  insulted  and 
injured  people.  Well  did  the  arch-peculator  know 
that  eloquence  would  prove  ineffectual  and  inge« 
nuity  powerless;  that  the  prejudice  of  the  multi- 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  30S 

tude  would  be  confirmed  by  irrefragable  facts ;  and 
that  acquittal  was  hopeless — condemnation  certain. 
Whereupon  the  wily  politician  was  reduced  to  the 
bitter  alternative  of  choosing  between  ignominy 
and  exile,  or  certain  death.  After  some  hours  of 
agony  spent  in  deliberation,  he  preferred  the 
former ;  and  calling  up  all  his  sagacity,  he  started 
ail  hour  before  dawn. 

This  movement,  however,  was  anticipated  by  the 
police  authorities.  Scouts  had  been  stationed  in 
the  various  localities  through  which  it  was  likely 
the  fugitive  would  pass,  and  sentinels  placed  on  the 
heights.  The  alarm  was  at  length  given,  and  the 
whole  posse,  under  the  guidance  of  Springer  the 
Hound,  gave  chase  to  the  hated  delinquent,  who 
exerted  himself  with  all  the  energy  arising  from 
the  impulsive  powers  of  despair,  and  love  of  life. 
With  masterly  dexterity  he  evaded  the  fury  of  Sir 
Isegrim  the  Wolf,  and  the  fleetness  and  fangs  of 
Springer  the  Hound,  who  hung  upon  his  haunches 
for  several  hours ;  but  torn,  bleeding,  and  breath- 
less, he  was  at  last  obliged  to  give  up  the  chase, 
and  call  off  his  broken-down  followers. 

Thus  Reynard  escaped  decapitation ;  but  history 
and  tradition  are  silent  as  to  the  country  of  big 
adoption,  his  future  career,  or  the  termination  of 
nis  existence.  This  much  may  be  affirmed,  that 
remorse,  with  her  cat-o'-nine  tails,  would  haunt  his 
meditations  by  day  and  his  dreams  by  night,  and 
he  himself  would  exclaim  in  the  language  of  the 
poet — 


804  The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox. 

**  My  conscience  bath  a  thousacd  several  tongueit 
And  every  toiigue  brings  iu  a  several  tale." 

Agreeably  to  the  juridical  canons  of  the  mon' 
ftrchy  a  writ,  bearing  the  signature  of  the  Sovereign, 
was  issued  from  the  Council  Office,  summoning 
*'  Reynard  the  Fox  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  the  Privy 
Council,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  having  com- 
mitted high  crimes  against  the  state,"  The  mem- 
bers of  that  august  body  met,  and  citation  made, 
but  no  answer  was  returned  either  by  principal  or 
attorney.  Upon  which,  sentence  of  outlawry  was 
passed  against  the  fugitive ;  his  real  and  moveable 
possessions  escheated  to  the  crown,  and  his  family, 
with  whose  concurrence  and  assistance  he  had 
acted,  attainted,  declared  incapable  of  serving  the 
state  from  henceforth,  and  rendered  infamous  for 
ever. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  expatriated 
ex-chancellor  possessed  all  the  requisites  which 
form  a  great  character.  He  was  sagacious  and 
penetrating,  acute  and  observant,  an  orator  of  the 
first  order,  and  one  whose  ingenuity  was  seldom 
or  never  at  fault.  His  legal  knowledge  was  above 
and  beyond  that  of  all  his  compeers;  and  his  ur- 
banity and  courtesy,  especially  when  they  suited 
his  own  purposes,  were  fascinating.  His  business 
habits  were  exact  and  methodical,  and  his  wisdom 
proverbial ;  but  that  wisdom  was  alloyed  by  low 
cunning,  that  sagacity  and  penetration  by  extreme 
selfishness,  that  legal  knowledge  by  a  morbid  ava- 
rice which   he  sometimes   could  ill  conceal,  and 


The  Story  of  Reynard  the  Fox.  305 

that  inflexible  justice  which  he  was  elevated  by  hia 
Sovereign  to  dispense  to  all  the  lieges,  was  per- 
verted by  the  lust  of  procuring  wealth,  and  an  in- 
satiable covetousness  which  he  neither  could,  nor 
sought  to  repress.  Hence,  with  all  his  transcend- 
ant  talents,  and  the  favour  of  an  indulgent  Sover- 
eign, he  was  precipitated  from  his  place  of  pride 
and  power,  and  became  an  outlaw,  an  exile,  and  a 
vagabond ;  proving  the  truth  of  the  proposition 
promulgated  by  the  illustrious  fictionist,  that 
"  guilt,  though  it  may  attain  temporal  splendour, 
can  never  confer  real  happiness.  The  evil  conse- 
quences of  our  crimes  long  survive  their  commis- 
sion ;  and,  like  the  ghosts  of  the  murdered,  forever 
haunt  the  steps  of  the  malefactor.  The  paths  of 
virtue,  though  seldom  those  of  worldly  greatnesBj 
are  aVays  those  of  pleasantness  and  peace.'' 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642^405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 
-^:^^^-^?^^  on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

'J>/nf 'l<^,         Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


1    ^/^ 


^^ 


JZTMC^ 


mij 


t 


^^  ^^''■' ...  fc£ 


INTER  LIBRARY 

teAN 


^^^) 


y^^  ONE  MONTH  mVX  RECEI? 
'^   NON-RENEWABLi 


^^^< 


Xt/a/ 


OCT  22  1969 


./t:v 


-mf^ 


UBS    7?. 


iSCIB.J«)e25  78 


?f  ?^l 


^WS^^      IN  STACKS 

JUL  \^Wt 


f^ 


r^iM 


LD2lA-60m-6,'69 
(J9096sl0)476-A-32 


BEC.ciR.JW25  "83     ^>y;3)'7 


> 


—  A 


"SiMM 


ax 


•/vi;?:< 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY  '^^^^ 


;;\-\s\\  -'-  ^^ 


